The Installer gift guide, part two

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 63, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, it’s a lot of stuff to watch this week, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) 

This week, I’ve been reading about clog crime and bright headlights and Robert Pattinson, starting my 564th rewatch of Community, testing Sill as part of my news reading flow, taking copious notes on Mrwhosetheboss’ new office setup, watching a lot of videos about sports stadiums for some reason, trying out all of Esquire’s best podcasts of 2024, and continuing to eat too much Swedish candy. For journalism, I swear.

I also have for you a great new feature for a great to-do list app, a new Peloton app, a comic book series worth your time, a couple of good tech-culture documentaries I think you’ll like, and lots more. We’re definitely in “new stuff to watch on cold evenings” season rather than “new apps and gadgets” season, but I’m not mad at it. It is cold out there. 

(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you into right now? What should everyone else be playing / reading / watching / eating / building / doing by the fire this week? Tell me everything: [email protected]. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, forward it to them and tell them to subscribe here.)

(Also, if you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.)

• “I tracked down my WhatsApp crypto scammers.” Christophe Haubursin’s new YouTube show, “Tunnel Vision,” looks extremely up my alley. For the first episode, he goes deep on all things crypto scams — the episode reminds me of a Search Engine episode on the same subject, and both do an excellent job of making the whole system make sense.
• Twos. I’ve mentioned Twos here before, and it’s still one of my favorite apps for simple tasks and notes. But I’m particularly into its new AI features, which don’t try to do impossible, wild things but instead just, like, search Google for you with one tap. I’ve been using the smart suggestions a lot and love them. (You can get past the waitlist with the code “Verge” if you want, too.)
• Creature Commandos. This show seems to be the unofficial official reboot of the DC universe, and by all accounts, it’s off to a good start. We’ve all been burned by the DCU before, of course, but the vibes around the place are pretty good right now. I’ll at least be sticking this one out.
• Y2K. All the reviews for this movie suggest that it might have been better as an SNL sketch or a fun 20-minute YouTube bit. But I don’t care. A movie filled with AIM references, landline phones, and crappy camcorders is exactly my jam. And I will be there for it.
• Spotify Wrapped. My Wrapped this year is hands down the most embarrassing it’s ever been. I don’t even want to share my #1 song. But still, even though everybody seems to do some version of this year-end thing now, nobody does it as well as Spotify. And the AI podcasts that come with it this year? Surprisingly fun.
• Peloton Strength Plus. Makes total sense that Peloton would eventually double down on weight training — but I actually didn’t expect to be this compelled by the app. It’s cheaper, for one! But it also has a lot of really useful features and classes and looks like the right mix of structured and flexible. Maybe I’ll even go back to the gym. (Narrator voice: he won’t.)
• Biggest Heist Ever. There are a lot of bonkers crypto crime stories out there, but the story of Razzlekhan and Dutch — which involves bad rap music, billions in crypto, and just a lot of dumb shenanigans — definitely belongs on the Mount Rushmore of the genre.
• Pop Culture Jeopardy! My brain used to be filled with interesting facts about history and the world, but now it’s just Olivia Rodrigo lyrics and phone specs up there. This Prime Video show makes Jeopardy a team sport, which is fun, but also has more questions I can answer now.
• Glitter and Greed: The Lisa Frank Story. Maybe you were around for the early days of Lisa Frank’s mega-colorful accessories, or maybe you got into them in a retro, vintage-y way the last few years. Either way, you’ll probably see a lot you recognize in this (also on Prime Video) series about how the company actually worked.

Last week, I shared a bunch of stuff I think would make good gifts. I may have been accused once or twice of having boring taste, which, fair! But I’m just saying, if you want to win my heart, Bluetooth speakers are the way.

Plus, luckily, you all have much better taste and better ideas than I do. So now it’s your turn: here are a few of the best gift recommendations I’ve gotten the last couple of weeks, both things you’d love to receive and things you’d confidently give.

• Home Assistant stuff. I confess I am increasingly kind of… over smart home stuff. But super hackable, in-the-weeds, make-it-do-anything-with-a-little-engineering smart home stuff? I’m in. And so are you, apparently.
• The Raspberry Pi 5. More light-touch hacking gear! Raspberry Pis are super fun gifts for anyone looking for a techy project, and it’s so cheap to get started! (Though I’d urge you to spring for the full starter kit, which just makes it easier to get the thing running.)
• Hoto stuff. Hoto makes some of the most gadgety tools you’ll ever find — Ryan emailed in and called it “the Apple of tools.” I own and love the screwdriver, but I’m also kind of in love with this tool set, too.
• Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman. This book has come through my inbox so many times this year. It’s sort of a productivity book, but it’s mostly a reminder that life is short, that’s okay, and that being productive is about giving yourself space to live, not more to do. Slightly deep for a holiday gift, maybe, but a great read.
• The new Mac Mini. I probably should have included this in my guide last week. It’s certainly no stocking stuffer, but it’s pretty cheap as high-end computers go, and Apple got pretty much everything right on this one.
• A coffee grinder. Matt sent me this great James Hoffmann video of reviewing a bunch of high-end coffee grinders and pointed out that they make great gifts. It’s true! Such a good way to upgrade someone’s setup without much work. My father-in-law could use one.

Interestingly enough, hardly anyone hit me up with good ideas about how to gift software… or to agree with my theory about gift cards being awesome. But it’s okay. I’m right. Gift cards forever. Good luck holiday shopping this year!

I always suspected Kristen Radtke, The Verge’s creative director, might be the coolest person I know. Then, in the course of like 48 hours a couple of weeks ago, I both discovered her wonderful book Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness and got a peek into her incredibly put-together, deeply cool home office. We also randomly got to hang out a bunch and work on stuff together, and it all just basically confirmed her suspected coolness.

I asked Kristen to share her homescreen, wondering if her legendary attention to detail and form and everything would carry over to her phone. Spoiler alert: it didn’t. And I think that might be the coolest possible outcome.

Here’s Kristen’s homescreen, plus some info on the apps she uses and why:

The phone: iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The wallpaper: My cute-ass baby.

The apps: Camera, Photos, Google Maps, Clock, Weather, Calendar, Notes, Slack, Instagram, Bluesky, Calculator, Venmo, Wells Fargo, American Express, Rent the Runway, Google Photos, Google Home, Peloton, Apple Health, White Noise, Uber, Resy, Seamless, Settings, Phone, Messages, Gmail, Chrome.

All of my devices are pretty chaotic — I don’t organize my files or apps or clean up emails or texts or clear my notifications. When my friends or husband use my phone, they’re horrified. (The only exception to my negligence is my calendar, which I update meticulously and reference constantly: if it’s not in the calendar, it’s not happening.) 

I write all my drafts and keep research in the Notes app; if it ever crashes, I’m doomed. In terms of hours, no app surpasses my beloved White Noise, which is $39.99 a year and houses a massive library of whatever ambient noise suits you best. I turn it on every night before I go to bed and whenever I need to block out sound while I’m working.

I also asked Kristen to share a few things she’s into right now. Here’s what she sent back:

• I just did the easiest shower upgrade ever with a Sproos showerhead, and now my shower is much more organized than my phone.
• The weird little handmade items at the one-person online shop Rosehound Apparel have made their way into many rooms of my apartment.
• I’m addicted to a new-ish cafe / wine bar / restaurant in Brooklyn called Che. It’s run by a group of best friends: the dream.

Here’s what the Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you’re into right now as well! Email [email protected] 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 even more great recommendations, check out the replies to this post on Threads and this post on Bluesky.

“I have been irrationally obsessed with designing cute little 3D print designs for the Mac Mini. The latest one is a MagSafe charging topper that is an homage to Apple’s six-color rainbow stage at Apple Park.” – Jerrod

“I’ve been messing around with using my iPad as an external monitor for my camera for a personal project I’m shooting. Orion has been a godsend.” – Eddy

“I am playing Kill Knight on my Switch and it is great for short 10- to 15-minute sessions. You get dropped into an arena and face endless waves of enemies.” – Filip

“If you liked Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, I highly recommend checking out one of his other books, Recursion! I read it right after Dark Matter and it was great!” — Amelia

“Revisiting James Clear’s excellent post on saying ‘no.’ Workdays between Thanksgiving and Christmas are a productivity wormhole, and saying no with conviction and frequency is one of the only ways to stay sane!” – Ryan

“Just finished a binge of the latest round of Against the Rules with Michael Lewis. Sports betting is pervasive and deep.” – Matthew

Want to lose your weekend? get Factorio: Space Age. It will scratch all the the engineering parts of your brain, but also eat all your free time. The new additions of other planets change up the gameplay in a great way.” — Kyle

“The Freedom app. It was $80 for a lifetime subscription during Black Friday. I can block time-wasting websites on my Mac, iPad, and iPhone all at the same time on a customizable schedule.” – Irfan

“Found out that AirServer on Xbox lets you use it as AirPlay (and Chromecast and Miracast) and supports background audio. This means you can stream everything from your phone while you play.” – Uli

“I’m reading Playground by Richard Powers. Another great novel from his hand about colonialism, biodiversity, friendship and yes, artificial intelligence(!).” – Anders

I get a lot of crap from Installer readers for not including enough Android apps. Which is fair enough! There are a lot of reasons for it, only some of which I control, but I’ll try and do better. Luckily, as ever, Reddit is on it. Someone posted on r/androidapps this week asking people to share the best apps they discovered this year. It has a couple hundred comments and probably 1,000 app recommendations. They range from teeny-tiny single-purpose utilities to huge, giant life-changing tools, and folks love and vouch for them all. Go peruse the thread — your phone will be better for it.