The Light Phone 3 is coming to replace your iPhone

Hi friends! Welcome to installer #42, your guide to the best and Border-most important things in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, I’m so excited you found us, and you can also read all the back issues on the website installer home page.)

I also have for you a new minimalist phone, a book to read, a documentary to watch, a fun hack for your Rabbit R1, and more. Let’s get into it.

(As always, the best part installer are your ideas and tips. What are you playing, reading, downloading, buying or binging this week? What do you like that everyone should like? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone who might like installertell them to sign up here.)

• The light phone 3. The new version of one of the best minimalist phones comes with a better screen, a camera, an NFC chip and some big ambitions about replacing your phone. I don’t think I’m physically capable of giving up my smartphone, but I want it so bad.
• Apple Passwords. We’ll talk a lot more about all of Apple’s WWDC announcements as they start rolling out, but it’s worth thinking about this one now: Apple’s presumably well-integrated cross-platform passwords app looks pretty good. Maybe it’s time to start compiling all your passwords and access keys.
• Stuck to the moon. Robin Sloan is one of my favorites writers on the internet, and both of his previous books were excellent. This, a deeply meta-sci-fi epic, appears to be the strangest yet – and I mean that in a good way.
• How music became free. For people of a certain age, this Paramount Plus doc will be like reliving some formative years — remember Napster and Kazaa and LimeWire and how the internet completely disrupted the music industry? So many fun stories in this one.
• Dragon House season 2. I confess I didn’t go in much Dragon House last season, but so many people have told me they’re excited about the new one starting this weekend that I feel like I need to catch up to be ready. It seems like everyone will be talking about this on Monday.
• “I installed Android on Rabbit R1 and made it useful.” The top comment on this video simply says: “They accidentally made a great dumbphone.” It’s kind of true! The R1 is a fun device that runs crappy software; as a small Android tablet, I confess that I loved it again. I even took mine out of the drawer to try it out for myself.
• Yahoo News. Yahoo bought and closed Artifact earlier this year. That was sad. This is better: Some of that recommendation technology is back in the new Yahoo News, which has lots of customization, stripes, badges and all sorts of good stuff. I’m using Yahoo again! Who would say!
• “Inside Disney’s ‘Area 51’, where lightsabers and other technologies are invented.” Lanny Smoot seems like an extremely cool person with an extremely cool job, and this video does a great job of showing off all the wild and futuristic things he and Disney are working on for the company’s theme parks and other products. Give me that omnidirectional treadmill now.
• Ghosts. It’s been a week, but about 100 of you recommended it this week, so I’m making an exception. (Thanks to everyone who told me about it!) It’s a really unusually structured show, and you definitely can’t watch it halfway, but I’m enjoying it so far.

André Liszewski He has long been one of my favorite bloggers on the internet. He spent years in Gizmodo writing about the weirdest, funniest, silliest, coolest things on the web, and I’ve definitely spent thousands of dollars on stuff just because he wrote about it.

Now Andrew works for On the edge! This was his first week and he’s already on Slack causing chaos. This is the best. I asked him to share his home screen with us to see if he could get any insight into how he scours the web. He didn’t reveal all his secrets, but now I know more about the weather in Canada, so that’s something.

Here’s Andrew’s home screen, plus some information about the apps he uses and why:

The telephone: iPhone 12 Pro (with an aging battery).

The wallpaper: I like a very minimalist wallpaper in my apps, but because I think solid black makes the screen too reflective, I created a custom subtle blue gradient that I’ve been using for the past five years. (For my lock screen, I’m using one of the Mikael Gustafsson scenes of a dreamlike nature.)

The apps: Google Calendar, Clock, Photos, Camera, Google Home, Google Photos, Find My, Instagram, Google Maps, WeatherCAN, Nest, Google Chat, Settings, Clock, Chrome, Apple Books, 1Password, App Store, Apple Notes, Phone, Gmail , Messages, Apple Photos.

My iPhone’s main home screen is where all my daily driver apps live. These include Instagram, Google Home, the old Nest app (which includes functionality for my Nest thermostat that I can’t find elsewhere), Chrome, 1Password (which pretty much solved my password anxiety when I finally switched), IMDb, Paprika 3, countless smart home remote controls, and most importantly, the Environment Canada weather app so I know when to mow the lawn before it rains. I’m obsessed with clearing notifications on my main home screen, but I’m happy for them to accumulate on the second screen, where I like to keep all my other installed apps accessible.

I also asked Andrew to share some things he enjoys now. Here’s what he sent back:

• I’m a big fan of retro games and recently added the tiny Anbérnico RG28XX to my ever-growing collection of portable emulators. The Game Boy Micro remains one of my favorite handhelds of all time, but with the RG28XX I can leave all the cartridges at home.
• Our house is slightly obsessed with reality TV Aloneand we’re so excited to dive into the Season 11 premiere this week.
• I just finished reading Bill Hammack’s book (aka the “Engineer” on YouTube) book, The things we dowhich includes fascinating deep dives into the engineering of everything from medieval cathedrals to how the microwave was invented.
• When I’m struggling to fall asleep, nothing calms my brain faster than Joe DIY Instagram account, which features videos of detailed restorations of classic die-cast toys. Try it. Watching a rusty dump truck transform back into a bright yellow Tonka toy is immensely satisfying.

Here’s what installer community is this week. I want to know what you’re doing now too! Email installer@theverge.com or message me on Signal – @davidpierce.11 ​​- with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we’ll feature some of our favorites here every week. For more recommendations than I could put here, check out the answers to this post on Threads.

“I recently came across an Australian company called Juicy Crumb specializes in creating custom motherboard replacements for old iMacs, which allows people to easily retrofit them as monitors. And they did one for the iMac G4! Believe me when I say I’ve never hit a ‘buy’ button so quickly (laughs). Anyway, I ordered one a few months ago and recently swapped it for my 20 inch G4, and it works perfectly! I connected it to an M1 Mac Mini I had and now I’m using an iMac G4 like it’s 2004 again.” -Ryan

“I LOVE the Surface kickstand, I like typing on the screen (I’ve been doing this for 14 years, tbf), and I hate cases on my Apple devices. I’m obsessed with this magnetic back cover with a stand for my iPad. It was only possible to get it from Amazon Germany, but they shipped to New Zealand for free. Terrible result. – Brendon

“Your mention of Inbox ten makes me think you would appreciate Tony Hsieh’s work Yesterday’s box method, which I have been using successfully for years!” – Deborah

“I have loved keeping a diary Daily, especially because it is completely private and local. If you want to sync between devices, you can use a cloud sync of your choice – it can even sync read-only with apps like Fitbit, Instagram, Strava, etc. .” – Michael

“I recently subscribed to Scott Belsky’s Implications newsletter, and I am convinced that everyone interested in the future of technology and culture should do the same as well.” -Ricky

“I just discovered the app Crouton for recipe collection and is by far the best for cleaning an actual recipe URL. You can even take a photo of a cookbook page and it will generate the recipe. Probably the best example of real-world use of AI I’ve ever encountered.” –JT

“I like the new MLB morning lineup podcast. Each episode is 10 minutes or less and recaps the previous day’s scores and news. It’s been a great way to follow the best sport.” – Mario

“I have experienced Star Wars: Hunters on iOS after finally being released. It’s a PVP arena combat game and I’m loving it so far. Hunters are all unique and fun, not too heavy in terms of pay to play, and are extremely good for a quick game. It’s not perfect (the UI is horrible), but it’s a good start.” – Matt

“Puzzmo has just added a new game to its catalogue, Stack-Up Poker, and it’s stellar. – Lucas

“My friends introduced me to this Call to action-like shooter that is apparently very popular in India. Is called Maximum free fire. The reason for its popularity is its ability to work on any device.

You should try. The graphics are mediocre, but the experience is great.” –Rudrajit

I posted on Threads a few days ago that my number one productivity hack is to take a 25-minute nap in the middle of the day. This made a lot of people have feelings and ask questions, even though I was absolutely right. (It’s just science. I don’t make the rules.) But for all the people who asked for tips, here are mine.

The perfect 25-minute nap involves three things. First, realize that even if you don’t sleep, lying down with your eyes closed for 25 minutes is still very restful; not stressing about sleep makes it easier to sleep. Second, an episode of a TV show I’ve seen (I watch it a lot). Parks and recreation) can make it easier to calm my brain and fall asleep. Third, I put on my smartwatch and set an alarm on it; Waking up to a buzzing sound in your wrist is infinitely better than a screeching sound. Naps are great, forever naps, happy naps, guys.