8 hours Ago By David Pierce
If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. Hi, friends! Welcome to No. 55, your guide to the best and -iest stuff in the world.
(If you’re new here, welcome, get ready to ruin your phone’s storage, and also you can read all the old editions at the .) This week, I’ve been reading about and and , watching (my favorite new show in forever) and the new (a long-standing fave), falling in love all over again, listening to , playing a lot of , and painstakingly moving all my junk to my new blue . It’s so pretty.
I also have for you a handy new way to track your stuff, a great app for posting to social media, a smart new way to manage your life on Apple devices, a new anime worth watching on Netflix, a new version of the best smart ring, and much more. Let’s dig in. (As always, the best part of is your ideas and tips.
What are you into right now? What should everyone else be playing/reading / watching / eating / 3D printing / building from Legos this week? Tell me everything: . And if you know someone else who might enjoy , tell them to .) / I love when I ask someone to share their homescreen with us and realize I have absolutely no idea what it might look like.
, the CEO of , was one of those people: he’s a tinkerer and a builder and an obvious tech fiend, so I thought he might have a million apps and widgets and everything customized just so. But he’s also a big believer in right to repair and keeping your gadgets working forever, so maybe he’d have, like, a BlackBerry from 2004 that was still somehow up and running? Turns out, it was somewhere in the middle. Here’s Kyle’s homescreen, plus some info on the apps he uses and why: I have a Pixel 6A, which eked through iFixit’s internal purchasing approval with a 5/10 on our .
Unlike the 5A, it doesn’t have a headphone jack, which is a daily frustration. I use my headphones so much! I’ve almost worn out the USB-C port from using it all day, every day, with a headphone adapter. A couple pins are worn out so USB cables only charge when inserted one direction right now.
I need to open it up to fix it! Unfortunately, the USB port is , making this either a main board swap or a repair. The problem with swapping the main board, aside from the expense, is that you lose your data. Repairability matters.
Phones should last 10 years, but this phone is going to struggle to last five. Google has come a long way but still has a ways to go. Modularity is longevity.
And eSIMs work great now! This phone has a SIM card slot, which would serve me much better as a microSD expansion bay. First of all, dark mode for lyfe. I spend so much time looking at screens, the least they can do is not blast me with every pixel set to maximum white light output! The wallpaper is the Pixel’s Nature Swept, in orange.
This seems like a pretty good simulacrum of what my future viewport on Mars will look like. Come on Elon, go faster! The next transfer window is only two years out. Audible, Pocket Casts, Google Maps, Google Photos, Slack, Settings, Phone, Messages, Gmail, Opera, Google Calendar.
I’m addicted to audiobooks. I read 2–4 a week, on about 1.5x (faster for some readers, slower for others).
Audible’s app keeps getting buggier over time. It really feels like they’re trying to drive their customers away. Using the app in a poor network area is quite frustrating — even when you’ve already got books downloaded, Amazon’s DRM likes to phone home way too often.
OpenAudible is quite good, and I’m pretty tempted to jump ship to a DRM-free alternative like Downpour. The Google Podcasts app was great, and I’m sad they killed it — but that’s what I get for relying on Google for something useful. Pocket Casts is a fantastic replacement.
Relatedly, RIP Google Reader and Feedburner. With how good the text-to-voice tools are getting now, how great would that tool have been to autocreate a podcast from your RSS feed? One of our right to repair coalition members just made from Aaron Perzanowski’s seminal book on the topic. It’s amazing! The “podcast” is very close to the source material, and I didn’t notice any particular mistakes.
I generally hate apps. But sometimes you need one, so let’s talk apps! Installer “ . I’ve spent years looking for workout apps because I’m not good at just committing to exercising without a full plan before I start.
Zing takes into account your age, gender, and even injuries to write the best workout schedule for you — using AI (huh!). It costs a bit, but seriously, for those who are constantly switching between workout apps, this is the one for you.” – Calvin “I’m loving my .
Combined with , it is easily the most intuitive and feature-rich OTT viewing experience.” – Joseph “ by The Browser Company is a newish (and ongoing) podcast with CEO Josh Miller about the company’s work on the 2.0 version of .
The show is extremely honest about the difficulties the team has faced and the ideas they’re struggling with, and it’s extremely -y in the way it dives into how browsers and technology make us feel. Anyone who’s interested in tech and design — or is just curious about where Arc is headed — should definitely give it a try.” – Kaiden “In my never-ending quest to find a good task manager, I came across this dead-simple to-do app called .
It’s been perfect for my daily standups and is the perfect place to dump a ton of tasks you need to get done for the day.” – Eddy “I recently stumbled upon a title called , an updated and enhanced version of the original , and it’s wonderful. You take care of a few outlanders, with the objective to survive, build houses, grow the population, hunt for food, and prosper.
The visuals are amazing, the mechanics are easy to learn, and the animations and details are just perfect. Combined with the soundtrack, it’s a really cozy experience that will catch you and probably never let go.” – Vojta “I am reading by Zoe Thorogood.
She recently lost her brother. New profits for the amazing graphic novel from the day her brother left till the end of the year are being donated to mental health charities.” – Daniel “I’m by no means an audiophile, but the has given new life to my studio headphones.
Super-quick Bluetooth pairing, and I have mine clipped directly on the headphones, so no dangling cords!” – Jack “I’m a very organized person, especially when it comes to traveling. for iOS is hands-down the best travel planner app I’ve ever tried. It’s really well designed and easy to use.
They even give you flight alerts similar to Flighty, so I’ve stopped paying for Flighty altogether. I’ve tried Tripit before, but that app feels like a dinosaur compared to Tripsy.” – Daniel “If you’re a fan of newsletters, hoarding bookmarks, and collecting endless internet wisdom, you should try out .
I work in marketing, so my email gets really cluttered with newsletters — I’ve now added all of them to Pincone, and it has freed my inbox loads! It also doubles as a bookmarking tool, and I like how I can save everything into files and add tags, it makes it so much easier to find stuff later.” – Lea “I’m relistening to a series of audiobooks: . It’s super nerdy and really good fun!” – Wenzel The “What’s on your desk” series is one of my favorite things we do here at , and I had the pleasure of .
If you’ve ever wondered about my setup, the gear I use, or where I’m sitting writing this very newsletter right now, this should have everything you need to know. And if I could leave you with two thoughts, it’s these: you can never have too many charging cables; and actually, being a mess is just fine. See you next week! /.
