A Worthy Update To My Favorite Mobile Game Ever

4 weeks ago

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Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 64, your line to nan champion and Verge-iest worldly successful nan world. (If you’re caller here, welcome, get caller for immoderate weird documentaries, and too you tin publication each nan aged editions astatine nan Installer homepage.)

This week, I’ve been reference astir raw milk and $HAWK and WhatsApp, watching A Man connected nan Inside and nan caller Ken Burns da Vinci doc, yet getting caught up connected The Great British Bake Off (about which I personification SO MANY FEELINGS), storing each my loyalty numbers and Airbnb codes successful Cheatsheet, and doing a genuinely upsetting magnitude of investigation connected pizza stones.

I too personification for you a delightful caller mobile game, an E Ink tablet worthy a look, a gorgeous caller to-dos app, and overmuch more. It’s a strangely Netflix-centric week, which is overseas for mid-December? But truthful it goes. Let’s dive in.

(As always, nan champion information of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you watching / reference / playing / baking / listening to / soldering this week? Tell maine everything: [email protected]. And if you cognize personification different who mightiness bask Installer, guardant it to them and show them to subscribe here.)

The Drop

Monument Valley 3. I’ve thought astir it, and Monument Valley is my favourite mobile crippled bid of each time. It’s gorgeous, quiet without being ponderous, and infinitely replayable. Even nan soundtrack is 1 of my all-time faves! It’s a spot overseas to opportunity “you personification to personification a Netflix subscription to play this crippled connected your phone,” but you do. And if you already personification one, it’s a immense win.
Mozi. Ev Williams built Twitter, Medium, and now this — an app for making plans pinch your existent friends, and connecting pinch folks who are successful town. Strikes maine arsenic benignant of… niche? But clever. And since Facebook stopped mattering, there’s really point different for illustration it.
iOS 18.2. I’m including this 1 mostly arsenic a PSA to iPhone owners: each nan Apple Intelligence worldly is whatever, but nan truth that you tin alteration spell to Settings > Apps > Default Apps and alteration what you usage for keyboards, calls, email, and more, perfectly rules. Go make it activity nan measurement you want.
The Supernote A5 X2 Manta. Dumb name, really cool-looking caller E Ink tablet. $459 is simply a batch for a instrumentality for illustration this, but I excavation Supernote’s accent connected making it repairable and upgradeable. I emotion that these integer notebooks proceed to get better.
Joi Planner. You surely already cognize this astir me, but I americium a sucker for a beautiful app. And this one, a combo almanac / tasks / wont locator for iPhones, is 1 of nan best-looking “day astatine a glance” designs I’ve ever seen. The app is, and feels, for illustration it’s missing immoderate features, but I excavation it.
Nickel Boys. Based connected nan terrific, sadistic novel of nan aforesaid name, nan movie is filmed almost wholly successful first-person views. And it seems to work. A batch of group deliberation this is going to triumph a batch of awards — don’t miss it.
“Behind nan scenes calling nan Simpsons Monday Night Football Game.” I ne'er wholly sewage nan entreaty of these animated broadside broadcasts, but nan method communicative of really they activity is highly cool. Pair that pinch this caller video on really changeable is changeable for TV, and it’s for illustration a accumulation maestro group each astatine once.
Carry-On. I don’t cognize if it’s conscionable my algorithm aliases what, but this Netflix movie has been everyplace connected my feeds nan past less weeks. It too mightiness beryllium nan caller grounds holder for giving distant nan afloat constituent successful nan trailer. But I’ll still beryllium watching it this play — here’s hoping it’s good, and Christmas-y, and tin spell successful nan Die Hard picnic canon.

Screen share

Did you subscribe to The Verge yet? You don’t personification to successful bid to get Installer, but you should anyway! I’m not remotely biased, and I deliberation it’s a beautiful bully website. And we personification ample plans.

Esther Cohen is nan personification making each those plans, and making them real. She’s been moving for illustration crazy nan past less months arsenic our caput of subscriptions, and truthful I figured now would beryllium a awesome clip to inquire her to do overmuch activity and banal her homescreen pinch us. How galore subscriptions does nan subscription caput have, you know? Inquiring minds want to know.

Here’s Esther’s homescreen, affirmative immoderate info connected nan apps she uses and why:

The phone: iPhone 15.

The wallpaper: A image of my (very big) kids and maine from my time this year. (It’s too my lockscreen, wherever I tin spot their faces.) Apparently, I americium a masochist and each clip I spot that my 11-year-old boy is my tallness it makes maine want to cry.

The apps: Weather, Settings, Apple Maps, Safari, Slack, The Verge, Apple Notes, Spotify, Phone, Mail, Messages, WhatsApp.

One measurement to summarize my apps is basic. At nan apical right, I support each my inferior stuff: things I usage arsenic I spell astir my day. (I’m mostly looking up places successful NYC and figuring retired really to get location — don’t @ me, I for illustration Apple Maps!)

The bottommost adjacent area is wherever I locomotion nan astir time, mostly connected work-related apps for illustration Slack, nan Verge homepage, and Apple Notes. I’m unspeakable astatine unplugging and consciousness nan petition to enactment updated connected activity astatine each times, truthful having nan almanac widget beforehand and halfway is simply a lifesaver. I bladed to suffer measurement of clip erstwhile I’m dense into a project, truthful seeing my upcoming meetings astatine a glimpse is ace helpful.

Spotify is my most-used “fun” app; it’s what I usage for podcasts and euphony while working, moving out, cooking, etc. Oh, and I precocious moved societal media apps disconnected my location aboveground — it’s been a game-changer for my accent and focus.

I too asked Esther to banal a less things she’s into correct now. Here’s what she sent back:

Watching: Shrinking. I’ve been really enjoying this show — it’s 1 of nan slightest cynical things successful intermezo correct now. It’s not alternatively Scrubs level (highly impulse a rewatch!), but it’s heartfelt, funny, beautifully written and shot, and ne'er saccharine.
Playing: Mahjong! The kids and I play a less times a week during dinner, and it’s truthful relaxing. I moreover personification nan Real Mah Jongg app connected my phone. It mightiness really beryllium nan only app I net for?
Listening: Molière: Le Spectacle Musical. Hear maine out: past year, TikTok kept serving maine clips of this French philharmonic that’s for illustration an urban-pop Hamilton astir Molière’s life. I precocious recovered the soundtrack connected Spotify, and it’s been connected repetition successful our house. I don’t understand a word, but nan songs are afloat bangers.
Reading: The Atlantic. This mightiness cement my basal girly status, but I precocious subscribed to The Atlantic and — honestly? — each azygous communicative is truthful good. Lately, I’ve been reasoning a batch astir what makes a publication worthy paying for, and I emotion that I genuinely want to publication almost everything connected their homepage and societal feeds.

Crowdsourced

Here’s what nan Installer statement is into this week. I want to cognize what you’re into correct now arsenic well! Email [email protected] aliases relationship maine connected Signal — @davidpierce.11 — pinch your recommendations for point and everything, and we’ll characteristic immoderate of our favorites coming each week. For moreover overmuch awesome recommendations, cheque retired nan replies to this position connected Threads and this position connected Bluesky.

“I’m trying to study 3D modeling because I conscionable sewage a Bambu A1.“ — Erwin

“My favourite music-to-work-by tract is myNoise. I peculiarly for illustration ‘Medieval Library’ and ‘Medieval Village’ (with turned-down blacksmith’s clang). It’s free to use, but if you flip nan fascinating French sound technologist obsessive Stephane a less bucks you get life entree to a bunch overmuch sounds arsenic bully arsenic immoderate bully tools.” — Molly

“Caves of Qud is an esoteric masterpiece of a game, I’m connected my tenth character, I’ve hardly seen a fraction of nan world, but I’m hooked” — Jack

“I personification vanished reference Deep Work by Cal Newport. It provided useful insights astir really to return clip retired of your engaged schedule to attraction connected dense work. It too provided really to minimise distractions and trim down shallow work.” — Ankur

“I sewage really really enamored by nan Pixel 9 Pro Fold. I don’t cognize why. The thickness of it, conscionable sitting adjacent to a 15 Pro Max and past unfolding it to that aboveground inside… it’s something.” — Abhi

“The crippled Mouthwashing is getting a batch of attraction correct now, but I americium conscionable letting Indiana Jones and nan Great Circle lavation complete me. It’s been a very agelong clip since we had point moreover remotely bully pinch this franchise, but this crippled seems to really nail nan vibe.” — Mike

“Reading nan gargantuan Wind and Truth from Brandon Sanderson! It’s been alternatively a doozy of a book.” – Jiatao

“I needed a inexpensive brace of earbuds while I clasp for nan AirPods Pro 3. I bought nan Baseus Bowie MA10 and they activity amended than I could inquire for. They do precisely what I petition them to do: play my euphony and podcasts.” — Alex

“I conscionable bought a ROG Ally X and I’m excited to dual footwear it pinch Bazzite to move it into half Steam Deck / half Windows gaming handheld, truthful that I tin get nan champion of immoderate worlds.” — Benny

“Just vanished nan fantabulous Stories Are Weapons by Annalee Newitz, astir nan powerfulness of storytelling & worldbuilding successful propaganda & psyops. Fascinating, insightful, often funny & tragic successful turns. A really awesome publication that’s helping maine process our progressively polarized world.” — Kailey

“So I americium wholly caller to schematic novels. Went connected Reddit to spot nan apical recommendations. Came crossed Miles Davis and nan Search for nan Sound. What an astonishing intro to this medium! Highly recommended for fans of Miles Davis and jazz.” — Mike

Signing off

Last week connected The Vergecast, I mentioned that I consistently personification a difficult clip figuring retired inexpensive, comparatively cosmopolitan gifts to bargain for co-workers, Secret Santa exchanges, and that benignant of thing. A bunch of folks responded pinch awesome ideas, truthful I figured I’d banal some:

Power banks. Give nan gift of artillery power.
Scratchers. Everybody loves a nosy lottery ticket!
Local gift cards. A batch of folks said I shouldn’t conscionable do Starbucks for everyone, but should thief group find and effort caller conception spots. I emotion this idea.
Coffee. Forget nan gift cards, conscionable bargain them a lb of bully coffee.
Candles. Is a candle too, like, friends for an acquaintance? I don’t know! Probably not! But I do emotion a bully candle.

These ideas personification already made my picnic shopping easier — let’s conscionable opportunity a batch of folks successful my life are getting immoderate scratchers this year. Hope this helps you, too. And if you personification different ideas, support ‘em coming. I petition each nan gifting thief I tin get.

See you adjacent week!