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Hello friends! Welcome in Installer #42, your guide to the best and Verge– the best thing in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, so excited you found us, and you can also read all the back issues on Installer Homepage.)

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 much more. Let’s get into it.

(As always, the best part of Installer are your ideas and advice. What are you playing, reading, downloading, buying or blinding yourself to this week? What are you doing that everyone else should be doing? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone else who might be delighted Installertell them to subscribe here.)

• The light phone 3. The new version of one of the best minimalist phones comes with a better screen, camera, NFC chip and some big ambitions to replace 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 this is worth thinking about now: Apple’s cross-platform, presumably well-integrated password app looks really good. Maybe it’s time to start compiling all your passwords and access keys.
• Moonbound. Robin Sloan is one of my favorite writers on the internet and his two previous books were excellent. This deeply meta-sci-fi epic looks to be the weirdest yet—and I mean that in a good way.
• How music became free. For people of a certain age, this Paramount Plus doc will feel like reliving some formative years—remember Napster, Kazaa, and LimeWire, and how the Internet completely disrupted the music industry? So many fun stories in this one.
• The house of the dragon Season 2. I admit I didn’t really get into it The house of the dragon 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. I have a feeling everyone will be talking about this on Monday.
• “I installed Android on Rabbit R1 and made it useful.” The top comment on this video only says, “They accidentally made an awesome dumb phone.” It is somewhat true! The R1 is a fun gizmo running crappy software; as a small Android tablet, I admit to loving it again. I even took mine out of the drawer to try it myself.
• Yahoo News. Yahoo bought and shut down Artifact earlier this year. That was sad. This is better: some of that recommendation technology is back in the new Yahoo News, which has a lot of customization and stripes and badges and all that good stuff. Again, I use Yahoo! Who would have thought!
• “In Disney’s Area 51, where lightsabers and other technology were invented.” Lanny Smoot seems like a super cool guy with a super cool job, and this video does a great job of showing off all the wild, futuristic stuff he and Disney are working on for the company’s theme parks and other products. Give me that multi-directional treadmill now.
• Phantasms. 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 unusual structured show and you definitely can’t watch it halfway, but so far I’m digging it.

Andrew Liszewski 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.

Andrew now works for On the edge! It was his first week and he’s already on Slack causing havoc. It’s the best. I asked him to share his home screen with us to see if I can get any tips on how he’s browsing 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 info on the apps he uses and why:

The phone: iPhone 12 Pro (with a battery that is already old).

The wallpaper: I like a very minimalistic wallpaper under my apps, but since I find 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 use one of the To Mikael Gustafsson dreamy nature scenes.)

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

The main home screen on my iPhone is where all my daily driver apps reside. This includes Instagram, Google Home, the outdated Nest app (which includes functionality for my Nest thermostat that I can’t find elsewhere), Chrome, 1Password (which pretty much solved my password anxiety after I finally switched), IMDb, Paprika 3, countless smart home remotes, 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 glad they pile up on the second screen, where I like to keep all my other installed apps accessible.

I also asked Andrew to share a few things that are on his mind at the moment. Here’s what he sent back:

• I’m a big fan of retro games and recently added the small one Ambernic RG28XX to my ever-growing collection of handheld 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 very excited to dive into the season 11 premiere this week.
• I just finished reading Bill Hammock (aka “Engineer Guy” on YouTube) book, The things we dowhich includes fascinating deep dives into the engineering of everything from medieval cathedrals to the invention of the microwave oven.
• When I’m struggling to sleep, nothing soothes my brain faster than Joe Do it yourself 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 extremely satisfying.

here’s what Installer community is in this week. I also want to know what you’re up to right now! Email installer@theverge.com or send me a message on Signal — @davidpierce.11 ​​— with your recommendations for anything and we’ll feature some of our favorites each week. For more recommendations than I can fit here, see the answers to this post in threads.

“Just recently I came across this Australian company called Juicy crumb which specializes in creating custom motherboard replacements for old iMacs, allowing people to easily repurpose them as monitors. And they did one for the iMac G4! Trust me when I tell you, I’ve never hit a buy button so quickly (lol). Anyway, I ordered one a few months ago and recently swapped it into my 20″ G4 and it works like a charm! I plugged it into the M1 Mac Mini I had and now I’m using an iMac G4 like it’s 2004 again.” – Ryan

“I LOVE the Surface stand, I enjoy typing on the screen (I’ve been doing it 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. I could only get it from Amazon Germany but they did free shipping to New Zealand. Bad result.” – Brendan

“Your mention of Inbox Ten makes me think you’ll appreciate Tony Hsieh’s Yesterbox a method I have used successfully for years!” – Deb

“I like to keep a journal Diary, especially since it is completely personal and local. If you want to sync between devices, you can use cloud sync of your choice—it can even sync read-only with apps like Fitbit, Instagram, Strava, and more to add everything you’ve done for the day to your record in the diary.” – Michael

“I recently subscribed to Scott Belsky Consequences newsletter, and I’m convinced that anyone interested in the future of technology and culture should, too.” – Ricky

“I just discovered the app Crouton for collecting recipes and is the best for refining the URL for the actual recipe. You can even take a photo of a cookbook page and it will generate the recipe. Probably the best example of using AI in the real world that I’ve come across so far.” – JT

“I enjoy the new MLB Morning Lineup podcast. Each episode is 10 minutes or less and recaps the previous day’s results and news. It was a very nice way to catch up on the best sport.” – Mario

“I was trying Star Wars: Hunters on iOS once it finally launches. It’s a PVP arena fighting game and I’m loving it so far. All the hunters are unique and fun, it’s not too heavy on the pay-to-play stuff, and it’s remarkably good for quick play. It’s not perfect (the UI is terrible), but it’s a good start.” – Matt

“Puzzmo just added a new game to its catalog, Pile-Up Pokerand is stellar.” – Luke

“My friends introduced me to it Call of Duty-a similar shooter that is apparently very popular in India. Is called Free Fire Max. The reason for its popularity is its ability to work on any device.

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

I posted on Threads a few days ago that my number one productivity trick is to take a 25 minute nap in the middle of the day. It made a lot of people have feelings and ask questions, even though I’m totally 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, realizing that even if you don’t sleep, lying there with your eyes closed for 25 minutes is still very tiring; lack of stress about sleep makes it easier to sleep. Second, an episode of a TV show I’ve seen before (I do a lot Parks and recreation areas) can more easily calm my brain and fall asleep. Third, I put on my smartwatch and set an alarm there; waking up to a buzzing wrist is infinitely better than a roaring sound. Naps are great, naps are forever, happy naps, everyone.