A better way to find stuff to watch

Cath Virginia / The Verge

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 30, your usher to the champion and Verge-iest worldly successful the world. (If you’re caller here, welcome. So psyched you recovered us, and besides you tin work each the aged editions astatine the Installer homepage.)

This week, I’ve been playing the amusive puzzler Close Cities, scrounging up wealth to bargain TikTok, speechmaking the latest successful my favourite spy-thriller series, debating becoming a mansion squatter, investigating Today for elemental tasks, taking notes connected this large video astir the editing successful Oppenheimer, and yelling “SPACE!” portion watching the astir caller SpaceX launch.

I besides person for you a caller AI productivity tool, a large mode to find worldly to watch, immoderate caller shows astir aged events, and a heavy dive into the illness of the Apple Car. Let’s bash it.

(As always, the champion portion of Installer is your ideas and tips. What app are you obsessed with close now? What amusement tin you not halt talking about? What crippled is burning each your controller batteries this week? Tell maine everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you cognize idiosyncratic other who mightiness bask Installer, guardant it to them and archer them to subscribe here.)

The Drop

• Likewise. I’ve been a instrumentality of Likewise arsenic a amusement and movie and podcast recommender for a while, and the app conscionable got a redesign I truly like. It’s extremely just TikTok, but it benignant of works — you conscionable scroll from rubric to rubric and trailer to trailer until you find thing you like.
• The Apple Car - A $10 Billion Failure. There’s been a batch of large reporting astir what happened to Apple’s car project, and this is simply a large summary. It besides makes a beauteous bully lawsuit that, actually, the things that marque Apple Apple are precisely the reasons it was never going to triumph successful the car biz.
• Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War. We each rewatched Oppenheimer this week aft its large Oscar win, right? If not, spell bash that, it’s connected Peacock. But if you’re looking for immoderate more, this Netflix bid is it: a heavy dive into however the Cold War started, and whether it ever really ended.
• Proton Mail for desktop. I’m beauteous acceptable to telephone Proton the champion non-Gmail email work connected the internet. (Gmail’s not adjacent that great, it’s just… it’s Gmail.) The caller Mac and Windows apps see some message and calendar, and it’s silly they don’t enactment offline yet, but that’s seemingly coming soon.
• The Dyson 360 Vis Nav. A $1,200 robot vacuum seems silly, successful the mode that Dyson’s prices ever look silly, but they bash look to beryllium worthy it a lot. Early looks astatine this one look benignant of divided connected whether it’s worthy the price, but its mega powerfulness and evident accomplishment with corners is beauteous enticing.
• Evernote. I never, ever thought I’d notation Evernote present — the app seemed to beryllium connected a dilatory roadworthy to nothingness. But nether caller ownership, it’s benignant of connected a tear? It got Outlook calendar integration this week, positive immoderate useful caller formatting worldly (I love collapsible headers successful agelong notes), and abruptly I’m tempted backmost to an app I erstwhile near for dead.
• Manhunt. A seven-part miniseries astir the epic hunt for Abraham Lincoln’s killer? (Which, amusive fact, seemingly took spot successful portion successful the vicinity wherever my woman grew up, but that’s not the point?) I’m present for it. I request to work the publication it’s based on, too, which I’m told is terrific.
• Dola. I person agelong extolled the virtues of substance messaging arsenic a productivity tool. This is simply a truly clever (and amazingly powerful) mentation of that: an AI adjunct that communicates done substance messages, that tin acceptable reminders, marque calendar events, and more. I’ve been utilizing it for one-off reminders each week, and it works great.
• Ozone connected Bluesky. This is the fediverse worldly that gets maine excited: the Bluesky squad is open-sourcing its moderation tool, truthful that anyone tin physique their ain moderation systems and users tin usage whichever 1 they want. And it each gets integrated close into Bluesky.

Screen share

Michael Fisher goes by galore names. Michael Fisher is 1 of them. But he’s besides MrMobile, and Captain2Phones, and — this is my idiosyncratic nickname for him — The World’s Only Remaining Fan of The Palm Pre. He’s also, arsenic of recently, the co-founder of a nifty caller keyboard lawsuit for iPhone called Clicks.

Michael and I precocious had a long, amusive chat astir keyboards, which is coming to a Vergecast provender adjacent you precise soon. But I besides asked him to stock his homescreen, because, I mean, determination aren’t galore radical connected Earth who person had arsenic galore homescreens arsenic helium has. I secretly hoped he’d nonstop maine 12 screenshots and conscionable say, like, “Sorry, these are each my regular drivers.”

Alas, each I got was one. But it’s a amusive one. Here’s Michael’s homescreen, positive immoderate info connected the apps helium uses and why:

The phone: Google Pixel Fold. Thirteen years of reviewing smartphones has cursed maine with an unquenchable thirst for novelty, truthful I power devices perpetually adjacent erstwhile I don’t request to — but I find the Pixel Fold ne'er gets acold from my regular rotation. Turns retired a integer Moleskine is rather a comforting happening to carry, astatine slightest for tech nerds of a definite age.

The wallpaper: I’ll beryllium honest: erstwhile Google briefed maine connected its emoji wallpaper past year, I rolled my eyes. But having a clump of icons representing your interests splayed retired successful a pleasing signifier connected the surface you spot the most? Turns retired it’s beauteous cool! (Also, I similar however it “breathes” erstwhile I pat it.)

The apps: Phone, Google Voice, NYC Ferry, Instagram, Gmail, Reddit, Todoist, Slack, Food Bazaar.

One of the things I adore astir large-format foldables is each the abstraction they spend maine to just... dispersed out. So my prime of layout is much notable than my database of apps, which I’ve clustered into 5 folders for two-tap entree whether the telephone is unfastened oregon closed. Alongside those, an anchor enactment of apps that used to beryllium captious halfway features... but arsenic I constitute this, I recognize however small I really usage the dialer oregon Google Voice (my SMS solution since it was called GrandCentral earlier Google scooped it up). Habit is simply a helluva drug.

Another happening I’ve spent excessively agelong doing: letting phones effort to conjecture which apps I mightiness privation to usage astatine immoderate fixed time. That’s the bottommost enactment there, and Google’s done a beauteous bully occupation of suggesting, connected this Monday midafternoon, a premix of productivity and messaging apps. I mostly prevention my Reddit sessions until aft bedtime, and I’ve ne'er utilized my section market store app earlier sundown, truthful those are oddballs... but I inactive admit the suggestions that do marque sense.

I volition outcry retired 1 app: NYC Ferry, which lets maine navigate my just metropolis by oversea alternatively of subway. If you unrecorded successful New York City and you don’t usage the ferry, I genuinely don’t cognize what you’re doing. (Bonus: they fto section simple schoolers sanction each the boats, truthful you’re whisked to and fro by vessels bearing legends similar “Tooth Ferry” and “Lunchbox.” It’s the best.)

Finally: I’m large connected glanceable info, truthful I usage a trio of widgets to marque definite I’m getting utile information the 2nd I unfastened my phone. All 3 are from Google: Calendar for my schedule, Weather for whether I request an umbrella, and At A Glance to springiness maine reminders astir worldly I mightiness person missed connected the different two.

I besides asked Michael to stock a fewer things he’s into close now. Here’s what helium said:

• In preparing for a caller occurrence of the Living In The Future podcast, I watched the classical science-fiction movie Outland. A 1981 Sean Connery playing a national SPACE MARSHAL! Sent to tame a rough-and-tumble mining colony connected 1 of Jupiter’s moons! Yes, it’s High Noon successful space, but that’s the champion benignant of compliment — and what truly puts it implicit the apical is the accumulation design, whose blend of Alien and Star Trek II is the purest signifier of cassette futurism.
• Speaking of aged stuff: I’ve precocious fallen backmost successful emotion with substance adventures, the interactive fabrication stories that archetypal opened my eyes to machine gaming. Alter Ego was primitively written for the Commodore 64, Apple II, and their contemporaries backmost successful 1986 — and these days it’s playable arsenic an app oregon successful a browser. It allows you to unrecorded an full quality life, from commencement to death, making choices to dictate your way on the way. Playing done a full beingness connected my telephone was amazingly fulfilling and adjacent astatine times profound (even if I died successful the dumbest mode possible, catching a transportation successful a softball game).
• Finally, retired successful the existent world: I had my archetypal acquisition astatine a cat cafe this weekend. If you’re not familiar: this is simply a cafe you tin sojourn that — yes — is festooned with felines. It was a profoundly indispensable accidental for maine to get distant from the integer satellite and reconnect with the earthy one, and if you person a feline cafe adjacent you, it’s the cleanable enactment for a rainy Saturday. You conscionable request to beryllium prepared for the overwhelming impulse to follow 1 — oregon two! — and by the clip you work this, I whitethorn good person 2 fluffy caller roommates arsenic a effect of my ain visit! Don’t accidental I didn’t pass ya.

Crowdsourced

Here’s what the Installer assemblage is into this week. I privation to cognize what you’re into close present arsenic well! Email installer@theverge.com oregon connection +1 (203) 570-8663 with your recommendations for thing and everything, and we’ll diagnostic immoderate of our favorites present each week.

“I’m a week late, but I wanted to get a azygous constituent connected the committee for Pandora. The caller euphony leafage highlights artists that lucifer my tastes, and they inactive person a stupendous vigor diagnostic — hardly astonishing considering they popularized it. Also, Pandora has a flimsy borderline by keeping podcasts (a diagnostic I bash not use) tucked distant retired of sight, portion Spotify loses points, similar immoderate radical I know, for ne'er shutting up astir Joe Rogan, who intelligibly peaked successful the 90’s connected News Radio.” — Will

“New Pokémon TCG acceptable coming adjacent week, truthful prepping for that, arsenic good arsenic playing Pokémon Go, due to the fact that well… I’m ever playing Pokémon Go… always.” — Bobby

“One tiny worldly that wholly changed the mode I usage my lockscreen connected iOS… Random photos. When I realized that I tin manus prime the photos ace easily, use chill filters and marque them alteration randomly erstwhile I interaction the screen, it became the champion mode to revive weekends, holidays oregon past night’s parties by featuring the five-to-ten champion pictures connected my fastener screen. It’s truthful overmuch much applicable and amusive than having to unfastened the Photos app.” — Benoit

“​​More and much of my friends person been signing connected to BeReal — wonderment if immoderate different person groups are seeing this growth. Also, the app keeps trying to get you to presumption nationalist profiles and I would similar them to halt that.” — Wisdom

“The astonishing Empty Fasting app that launched this week. One-time interest for a beautifully designed fasting app.” — Esteban

“I thought I’d propulsion successful a large ‘audio products’ reviewer, Darko Audio. He has immoderate bully info and thoughts astatine the precocious extremity and immoderate nerdy written contented connected streaming protocols. Personally, I’m a Spotify idiosyncratic since, arsenic you say, it’s everywhere. I bash consciousness pushed ever further distant from Spotify with each bundle update that seems to spot distant astatine what was a adjacent cleanable interface.” — David

“Bought a used, but fantabulous information Pixel 7 Pro. After trade-in, $201. Wife precocious got the same-condition iPhone 13. Makes you deliberation astir upgrade cycles. Also Zack from JerryRigEverything has near an content connected maine regarding recycling tech and parts and whatnot.” – Omar

“It’s owl breeding season, and I’m backmost to watching live streams of nesting European eagle owls. In summation to being cute, the camera prime for vertebrate cams is truthful overmuch amended than it was conscionable a mates years ago. Tristan and Isolde connected Cam 3 person a clutch of 4 eggs this year!” — Daniel

“Watching Mr. & Mrs. Smith and organizing my notes utilizing the PARA method successful Microsoft Loop and Capacities.” — Carter

Signing off

Over the past 2 weeks, my 15-month-old lad has go a Train Kid. He wants to look astatine trains, marque bid noises, outcry astatine the trains outside, locomotion by the bid car extracurricular the room whenever we spell past. After months of just, like, watching Wiggles videos connected repeat, trains are a terrific caller trend.

And y’all: if you’re not already into TrainTube, you are missing out. Hours upon hours of beautifully changeable videos of awesome-looking trains successful beauteous locations. It’s peaceful, it’s amazingly bully inheritance sound for moving to, and determination is thing funnier to maine than the information that an hourlong video of trains has 107 cardinal views — and according to the comments, astir of them are toddlers. I emotion the internet.

See you adjacent week!