If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. Hi, friends! Welcome to No. 48, your guide to the best and -iest stuff in the world.
(If you’re new here, welcome, get ready for a lot of books this week, and also you can read all the old editions at the .) I’m back after a couple of weeks off — thanks to everyone who wished me a good vacation and sent over book recommendations! I wound up reading and and highly recommend all three. Mostly, I spent two weeks chasing a toddler around various restaurants and playgrounds, and it was a good time, but I am oh so very glad to be back hanging with all of you.
And it turns out I missed a lot of good stuff! This week, I’ve been reading about and , watching and rewatching tweaking my recipe for a maple syrup Old Fashioned, listening to ’s rebooting all my fantasy football leagues, and trying my damndest to switch from Spotify to YouTube Music. I also have for you a new way to take smartphone photos, a new-ish HBO smash, a new podcast app, a clever use of AI for your notes, and much more. Let’s get into it.
(As always, the best part of is your ideas and tips. What are you into right now? What should everyone else be reading / watching / playing / buying / 3D printing? Tell me everything: . And if you know someone else who might enjoy , tell them to .
) , I mentioned how much I‘d been enjoying the , a minimalist Android launcher that reinvents your homescreen into something much more manageable and straightforward. And I heard from so many of you that you like it, too! I also happened to run into Peter Huber, the creator and developer behind Niagara, only a few days later. I figured it had to be fate, so I asked Peter to share his homescreen with us, figuring we might get a Niagara pro tip or two.
Here’s Peter’s homescreen, plus some info on the apps he uses and why: Pixel 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 3. Since we need several phones to check if Niagara Launcher works properly on the vast Android landscape, I have the luxury of being able to use two phones. The Pixel is my daily driver, and I use my Fold 3 with its wide screen to relax and wind down in the evenings.
The first one is based on a from , and the second is a blurred version of a wallpaper I did while tinkering with the fantastic 3D modeling software Blender. You can find the wallpapers in Niagara Launcher or . I was tempted to post an iPhone setup here to see the reaction, but I’m using and testing Niagara Launcher.
I prefer a simple setup, and everything you see — the icon packs, weather, calendar, and media widgets — comes with Niagara Launcher. The only exception is the font on the Fold. I tried a few extravagant fonts for upcoming homescreen setup presets.
I noticed the star above the alphabet is too thin with this font, so I’ve kept it as a reminder to address this issue, and now the font has grown on me. Gmail, Todoist, Telegram, WhatsApp, Slack, Firefox, YouTube, Harmonic. Installer “I followed during the Olympics.
There are , , and articles. Working in post-production, I wondered how many cameras were being used during the Olympics. Found this blog post .
” — Sinan “ has been my favorite utility to create great-looking custom covers for playlists on Apple Music.” — Krishna “ . It’s set in a future where humans and robots have gone their separate ways and really paints a portrait of a world where I think many of us would like to live.
Becky Chambers’ work has been called ‘comfort sci-fi,’ and honestly, I can’t think of anything more perfect for a reprieve. Reading this is like drinking a warm cup of tea. You’ll love it.
” — Nolan “Really into I was crazy enough to preorder from China. Think ‘slightly less expensive Boox Palma,’ and also, you could put a SIM card in it if you really wanted, but the bands it supports really limit what carrier you could use and what kind of speeds you’ll get in the US” — Christopher “I’m enjoying , a simple text-only journaling app for iOS.” — Joe “I relistened to ‘ ’ from and forgot how much I loved it.
It got me thinking of podcasts I’ve listened to that had me on the edge of my seat, and I remembered . It has multiple seasons now, but the first one is on Christopher Duntsch, a spinal surgeon gone wrong and how the laws of malpractice and hospital fire and hire practices will fill you with rage!” — David “ . I’ve been using this site to follow my tech reporters and politicians when they go on random podcasts.
” — Ben “ . It hasn’t been updated in a super long time but still works. I have yet to find a match RPG game that can replace it.
For me, it has the perfect game physics as far as speed and moving tiles, and nothing else I’ve tried is as satisfying.” — Justin “Based on your clear interest in note-taking apps, I assume you’ve already read by Sönke Ahrens. If you haven’t, check it out — you might like it.
It’s short, to the point, and interesting for people who take a lot of notes for future articles / books / papers.” — Robert “The new day calendar view in is absolutely amazing and makes it super simple to plan tasks around meetings.“ — Glenn I don’t remember how I discovered , but I’m really glad I did.
Every episode is a dissection of one of the Lonely Island’s digital shorts, a shocking number of which ended up being kind of culturally iconic. I wouldn’t binge the show since a few of the episodes are a little same-y – “we made it last minute, it was huge, wasn’t that neat!” — but there’s a lot of interesting behind-the-scenes stuff throughout. And I will never tire of the fact that “ ” is both an all-time great sketch and a sneakily crucial part of internet history.
(And not just because there’s a MapQuest shoutout!) was particularly great, but I’ve really enjoyed the whole show so far. See you next week! /.
