Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 141, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, I’m newish here too, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)
This week, I’ve been getting back into the Installer groove, trying out some ergonomic Switch 2 grips I bought on Etsy, researching bike stuff because I’m about to get a Velotric e-bike, inching my way through the fourth book in The Dark Tower series, trying to figure out what feels off about Sonic in the new Fortnite season, wondering why Mark Zuckerberg needs a castle, and swatting at a few too many flies that have snuck into the house.
This week, I also have for you a clever daily puzzle game, the next Jason Statham action movie, Pokémon cameras, and more.
(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What do you want to know more about? What are your favorite things you’ve watched / seen / listened to / played with this summer? Drop a line to installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, forward it to them and tell them to subscribe here.)
- The Fairphone 6 Plus. For the first time, Fairphone is selling one of its ultra-repairable smartphones directly in the US. With its better chip and bump up to 12GB of RAM, the 6 Plus looks like a nice improvement from last year’s model. iFixit gave it a 10/10 for repairability, which is a strong stamp of approval for the 6 Plus’s longevity. I wish more phones were like this.
- Framework’s Laptop 12. Framework launched a second generation of its 12-inch convertible laptop, and it offers Intel’s latest Core Series 3 processors as well as options for a fingerprint reader and a backlit keyboard. You can buy a pre-built version that has Fedora Linux onboard, and it starts at $699, which is $100 cheaper than the starting price of the previous-gen Laptop 12. The year of Linux (again) continues.
- Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 5 earbuds. Sennheiser’s redesigned wireless earbuds and the case both have user-replaceable batteries. They also come in some slick metallic colors. Apple, take note.
- Dartwords. This new daily puzzle game from the creators of Blaseball tasks you with getting a darts bull’s-eye by guessing the correct word. If you’re getting bored with Wordle, Dartwords is a clever twist on the word game format.
- Mutiny. This movie about Jason Statham doing Jason Statham action movie stuff on a cargo ship looks like a big, dumb, and fun summer blockbuster that’s probably a blast in theaters. But if you were looking at Prime Video at the right time earlier this week, you might have been able to briefly watch it from the comfort of your couch before it was removed.
- Mortal Shell II. I never played the first Mortal Shell, but I’m seeing a lot of praise for this new action RPG. Kotaku calls it a “third-person doom metal Soulslike,” and honestly, that’s all I need to hear.
- Polaroid’s Pokémon cameras. A Polaroid camera that’s themed after a Poké Ball? This is the coolest thing for my 10-year-old self since the Pokédex toy.
I was last featured in this section more than a year ago ahead of my previous run with Installer. I figured it might be worth reintroducing myself and sharing my latest homescreen, which has evolved. Or, as you’ll see, perhaps unevolved.
Hi, I’m Jay! Like David said last go-round, I like wonky indie games (play Big Walk, my favorite game of the year so far), diving deep into iOS betas (iOS 27 is great), and taking my toddler on adventures around Portland, Oregon (we particularly love the Oregon Zoo, which just got new red pandas).
Like many other people, I’m also trying to spend less time on my phone, and I recently went all-in with a homescreen cleanup to test just how minimal I could go. Here it is — and I promise this isn’t a bit, I’ve been running this homescreen for a few weeks now.
The phone: Still my iPhone 16 Pro I talked about last year. I still think it’s too heavy and too big, and I still miss my iPhone 12 Mini. Next time, I’m going to buy whatever the lightest but newest iPhone is at that time. But I probably won’t upgrade from this phone for a while, because it still works great. It’s honestly overkill for what I need.
The wallpaper: A black gradient I created using the iOS wallpaper tool. (I promise it’s different from the wallpaper I included last time, but I think that’s because I deleted the old one by accident.) I also use iOS’s glassy icons to reduce how flashy my phone is. I sometimes turn on the grayscale mode, too — I even have a Control Center toggle for it — but that’s a pain when I want to look at a picture of my daughter. It’s 50/50 if I have that on.
The apps: My homescreen is just the Messages app, which is the primary way I communicate with my wife and my family. Otherwise, I access apps by searching for them or looking at the App Library. I try to just keep functional apps I actually use on my phone, which means no social media or even a browser.
Overall, the goal is to make my phone as boring as possible. That way, I’m not tempted to pick it up as much. If I have to use a screen, I’m incentivized instead to gravitate toward more “productive” screens like my laptop (where I can type or work), the TV (where I can watch a show or movie or play a video game), or something like my Steam Deck, Switch 2, or Kindle. I do keep my iPhone 12 Mini around to use to test apps, but I generally keep that phone hidden in a box somewhere so I’m not tempted to pick it up when I should be doing something else.
That’s the theory, at least, and for the most part, the strategy works. But iOS’s App Library is the thorn in my side. Even though I don’t have many interesting apps on my phone, the fact that the App Library is merely a swipe away means that I often still catch myself scrolling absent-mindedly. (If Apple would let me turn the App Library off, I would.) And every once in a while, a social app or a browser sneaks its way back — or, I just waste time on Reddit on my computer instead of on my phone. I’ve come to accept that there’s no perfect solution and that it’s more about trying to encourage good habits for myself.
Last year, I also shared that I have a Days Since widget showing the number of days I had gone without drinking alcohol. I stopped drinking to better keep up with my very active daughter. The widget is gone, but the app remains on my phone, and it’s still counting up. Last year in Installer, it was at 165 days. Today, it’s at 630.
Here’s a few things I’m into right now:
- Portland’s local libraries. They’re fantastic summer destinations for my daughter. But I’ve also been trying to read more physical books, and there’s something satisfying about taking a trip to pick up a library hold.
- My favorite book in recent memory is Inside the Box by David Epstein. The book talks at length about how constraints can actually be freeing and beneficial for creativity, and I’ve been thinking about how that applies to every aspect of my life ever since. I even went back and read some of the book again after I finished it the first time, which I never do.
- The Moon Ball. My wife and I got this bouncy ball for our daughter, but I play with it way more than she does. It bounces SO HIGH. Best toy ever.
Here’s what the Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you’re into right now as well! Email installer@theverge.com with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we’ll feature some of our favorites here every week. For even more great recommendations, check out the replies to this post on Bluesky.
“Reading blog posts from the Atmosphere on my XTeink reader and loving it.” — Tynan
“Played / playing three excellent indie mystery games on Steam Deck: The Incident at Galley House, The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow, and The Mermaid Mask.” — Matt (Jay note: I cosign The Mermaid Mask.)
“Still playing Pokopia.” — Joshi
“Just found out that Teenage Engineering has a DIY vinyl kit and basically about to hand over all my money.”
“I’ve been playing an ace wee app called Spaceplan. Simple and small, but tells a big story and insanely addictive. Add to that it’s cheap and there are no IAPs.” — Chris
“Lost Weekend, the new Phoebe Bridgers LP. It’s the ‘I’ve nicked your Dad’s copy of Vekatimest’ to Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘I’ve nicked his Head On The Door.’” — Iain
It’s been a great week for news about two of my favorite British TV shows. The next series of Taskmaster, a hilarious show where five comedians compete in ridiculous tasks, debuts on September 3rd. And The Great British Bake Off (aka The Great British Baking Show in the US) will also premiere sometime in September, though a specific date hasn’t been announced.
Should make for cozy TV in September and October. That will be perfectly timed; with all of the expected tech news and video game launches this fall, I’ll need some laughs and cake.