Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer<\/em> No. 131, your guide to the best and Verge<\/em>-iest stuff in the world. (If you\u2019re new here, welcome, happy last week of productivity before the World Cup starts, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer<\/em> homepage<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This week, I\u2019ve been reading about the World Cup<\/strong><\/a> and peptides<\/strong><\/a> and parasocial media<\/strong><\/a>, catching up on Clarkson\u2019s Farm<\/em><\/strong><\/a> ahead of the new season, buying literally every single new item in The Verge Shop<\/strong><\/a>, watching so so so many BTS concert clips<\/strong><\/a> on my social feeds, brainstorming ways to resurrect my old Facebook Portal<\/strong><\/a>, testing Spokenly<\/strong><\/a> to see if it\u2019s the dictation app for me, and ponying up for a full year of GeForce Now<\/strong><\/a> just to play 007 First Light<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. No regrets.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I also have for you a YouTube phenomenon-turned-Hollywood hit, a bunch of Lego sets I bet you\u2019ll want, new places to play Final Fantasy<\/em>, new headphones and soundbars, and much more. Let\u2019s go.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n (As always, the best part of Installer<\/em> is your ideas and tips. What are you watching \/ reading \/ listening to \/ playing \/ crocheting this week? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com<\/a>. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer<\/em>, forward it to them and tell them to subscribe here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Last week, I finally caved and bought the tiny Xteink<\/strong><\/a> e-reader that has been all over my social feed the last few months. The very first thing I did after opening the box? Install the CrossPoint firmware, an open-source project that has become a huge hit in the e-reading community. (And the center of some interesting drama \u2014 I have a story on that coming soon.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The person at the center of CrossPoint is Justin Mitchell<\/strong><\/a>, a developer I\u2019ve known for a long time. I think we first met chatting about Newton Mail, one of my all-time favorite email apps. He also worked on a great voice notes app called Cleft Notes, and a bunch of other cool projects.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n After Justin and I chatted this week about the state and future of CrossPoint, I asked him to share his homescreen with us. I half thought he\u2019d just send a picture of his Xteink device, but what I got from him was even more surprising. And delightful. Here\u2019s Justin\u2019s homescreen, plus some info on the apps he uses and why:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The phone: <\/strong>Unihertz Titan 2. Full QWERTY keyboard and a massive screen \/ battery = I just work from my phone most days, no laptop needed. You didn\u2019t ask but I\u2019m also using Nothing earbuds and headphones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The wallpaper: <\/strong>I have really leaned into the minimal and dark mode-only approach to homescreens over the last few years. No visual stimulation allowed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The apps: <\/strong>Email, Slack, Messages, WhatsApp, Vivaldi, Discord, Reddit, X.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I\u2019m running the always amazing Niagara Launcher<\/strong><\/a>. I have a custom widget of an app I built called In Your Space, which is a shameless rip-off of the iOS app In Your Face<\/strong><\/a>. What\u2019s amazing about the world we live in now is that I can just AI-code my perfect meeting reminder app, and I don\u2019t even have to share it with anyone else! This app exists solely on my phone and does exactly what I need, down to the most personal and unique details about how my life works, not yours or any other user\u2019s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I\u2019m running Audiobookshelf<\/strong><\/a> for audiobooks, and Vivaldi<\/strong><\/a> for my browser. No YouTube, no TikTok, just pure productivity and connectivity. Claude<\/strong><\/a> is also pinging me about some code it wrote in my notification banner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I also asked Justin to share a few things he\u2019s into right now. Here\u2019s what he sent back:<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Here\u2019s what the <\/em>Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you\u2019re into right now as well! Email <\/em>installer@theverge.com<\/em><\/a> or message me on Signal \u2014 @davidpierce.11 \u2014 with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we\u2019ll feature some of our favorites here every week. For even more great recommendations, check out the replies to <\/em>this post on Threads<\/em><\/a> and this <\/em>post on Bluesky<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cBeen having fun with Roost<\/strong><\/a>. It\u2019s a messaging app that delivers a message at the speed of whatever bird you are sending.\u201d \u2014 Michiel<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI just started using LazyVim<\/strong><\/a>, and it may actually replace a niche use case for me. I use Jetbrains<\/strong><\/a> for most coding, but every once in a while I just need to edit a Python or JS script and not wait for PyCharm or VS Code to launch. LazyVim gives me the IDE experience without the bloat.\u201d \u2014 Kevin<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay<\/em><\/strong><\/a> continues to be the best thing on right now. Every week is a countdown \u2018til the next episode.\u201d \u2014 Pip<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I am constantly watching for updates on my Clicks Power Keyboard<\/strong><\/a>, which have now started shipping to folks. Can\u2019t wait to get my clickity clackity typing on without having to use the full (large) case on my Pixel 10 Pro.\u201d \u2014 Josh<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cUsing Tuna<\/strong><\/a> to configure my workflow on my newly acquired IBM M2 keyboard. There\u2019s a ton of Mac launchers out there, but Tuna is quick. It\u2019s also configurable enough to make it powerful, but doesn\u2019t feel like overkill like Raycast.\u201d \u2014 Mike<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHank Green has a new podcast, Humans<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em>\u201d \u2014 Stefan<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cMarathon<\/em><\/strong><\/a> season two is spooky now, with a night map that\u2019s actually dark, and gear was wiped, so everyone\u2019s on (near) equal footing. It\u2019s a great game that deserves more praise and attention.\u201d \u2014 Train Man Emeritus<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cSesame<\/strong><\/a>. It\u2019s a voice dialog with an AI bot to talk about pretty much anything. They don\u2019t mention friendship or anything like that, although maybe it\u2019s possible. I used it to explain details of a few topics that I needed to learn about. Conversations are extremely realistic. Almost like what Alexa should be but isn\u2019t.\u201d \u2014 Jay<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cUnlike traditional clipboard managers that rely on keyboard shortcuts, Layr<\/strong><\/a> is designed from the ground up to be activated via trackpad gestures. The app\u2019s design and gesture-first approach actually convinced me to replace Maccy<\/strong><\/a>. Because I already use Swish<\/strong><\/a> for window management, adding another trackpad gesture to my workflow felt completely natural. Despite some early bugs, the core concept is solid.\u201d \u2014 Travis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI got the RingConn Gen 2 Air<\/strong><\/a> about a year ago for $200. There\u2019s no subscription, it looks like any other smart ring, the battery lasts for a week, and it tracks workouts and sleep. I would think that for the people (like me!) that don\u2019t need all the bells and whistles of an Oura, a ring like this is an obvious choice.\u201d \u2014 Bruce<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There are a lot <\/em>of big movies coming out this summer, but in my house the only one that matters is Toy Story 5<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. The movie\u2019s out in two weeks, but the media tour is already in full swing, and it appears we\u2019re due for a lot of really fascinating discussions about screentime, technology, and what it means to be human. Andrew Stanton, the movie\u2019s director, gave a terrific interview to Polygon<\/em><\/a> with some great perspective on all this, and why screens actually aren\u2019t just a villain. Tom Hanks has some thoughts<\/a>, too. I love that a \u201ckids movie\u201d might be our best chance in forever to have these conversations for real.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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