Readwise Reader is the final word app for studying the web

Hello, buddies! Welcome to Installer No. 18, your information to one of the best and Verge-iest stuff on the planet. (In the event you’re new right here, hey, blissful holidays, and likewise you possibly can learn all of the previous editions on the Installer homepage.) 

This week, I’ve been combing this checklist for brand spanking new board video games to attempt, studying about the NFL’s obsession with ping pong and the rise of chess influencers and the wacky historical past of Yahoo Pipes, watching Lupe Fiasco completely clarify how rap works, testing Anytype as a Notion various, making an attempt to determine easy methods to justify shopping for myself a Lego Polaroid, and including Us to all my phrases on Threads to welcome my European buddies. 

I even have for you a brand new approach to play Grand Theft Auto, some new AI-powered note-taking and journaling instruments, new stuff to look at this weekend, a glance into the creator economic system, and far more.

I even have a query. We solely have yet one more Installer this 12 months, so I figured now’s the time to do it: what was your favourite factor of 2023? I promise I gained’t maintain this to, like, a authorized customary of that is your solely favourite perpetually. However whenever you look again on the final 12 months, what new present / guide / weblog / app / creator entered your life that you just’re notably blissful about? Inform me one, or two, or three! Doesn’t need to be new this 12 months, simply new to you. Electronic mail installer@theverge.com, or textual content / WhatsApp me at (203) 570-8663, and inform me all the pieces. All issues Favorites, coming your means in two weeks.

(As all the time, one of the best a part of Installer is your concepts and suggestions. What do you wish to know extra about? What superior tips have you learnt that everybody else ought to? What app ought to everybody be utilizing? Inform me all the pieces: installer@theverge.com. And if you wish to get Installer in your e-mail inbox a day early, subscribe right here.)

• The NPR app. In the event you gave me $100, I couldn’t let you know the distinction between the NPR One app and the NPR app, or why they each existed. Fortunately, they don’t anymore! There may be simply the brand new and good NPR app, which does an excellent job of each curating tales into newsy playlists and simply enjoying the exhibits I’m searching for. 
• The GTA trilogy on Netflix. Netflix’s gaming providing is changing into actually spectacular, actually rapidly. In the event you’re a subscriber, you now have free entry to a bunch of excellent video games, together with three all-timer GTA titles: San Andreas, Vice Metropolis, and GTA III. They’re previous, however they nonetheless rip.
• Finalist. One of many niftier to-do checklist apps I’ve seen shortly. My fundamental situation with Finalist in the beginning was I hated the colour decisions. With the brand new model, you possibly can design the app any means you need! And it’s nonetheless a super-simple and fairly intelligent duties system.
• How A lot I Make on TikTok vs Shorts vs Reels from Hank Inexperienced. No one explains the creator economic system like Hank Inexperienced. (In the event you’ve by no means seen his rant towards TikTok and creator funds, go watch it.) That is an unusually trustworthy, and type of bleak, take a look at how a lot cash there actually is on this sport and the place it comes from.
• Journaling Strategies in Day One. After I wrote about Apple’s Journal app — which is out for everybody now in iOS 17.2! — I mentioned that Journaling Strategies, the API that combs via your photographs, actions, areas, music, and extra to give you stuff to journal about, was essentially the most intriguing a part of the product. Day One, my favourite journaling app, now integrates Strategies proper into the app. It really works rather well.
• Epic’s vacation sale. This is without doubt one of the higher “free video games!” offers you’ll discover: Epic is giving freely a sequence of older titles over the course of the vacation season. Proper now it’s the Future 2: Legacy Assortment, which is a big quantity of Future content material — and there are 16 extra video games left to assert. I’ll be keeping track of this one over the subsequent few days. 
• The brand new Apple TV app. Day-after-day, I swear, my Roku TV will get a bit of slower. And day by day, I get a bit of nearer to only plugging in an Apple TV. I actually like what Apple’s making an attempt to do with this app — common search, cross-platform suggestions, straightforward shopping for and renting — although it’s lacking Netflix and some different necessary providers. 
• NotebookLM. Google’s AI-powered notes app nonetheless doesn’t have many options, and I nonetheless don’t completely perceive why it’s not only a characteristic of Maintain or Docs… nevertheless it’s a nifty app nonetheless. Add your docs, summarize them, ask questions on them, make finding out or researching a bit of simpler.
• Xbox Cloud Gaming on Quest 3. This could be one of the best cause but to purchase a VR headset. In the event you’re a Sport Cross subscriber, now you can join your controller, fireplace up an enormous digital TV, and play video games from anyplace. That is going to turn into a part of my bedtime routine means too rapidly. 

For a very very long time, Instapaper was the most-used app on my cellphone. (This was again within the pre-TikTok period, after I spent extra time studying and fewer time scrolling. However let’s not dwell on that change.) I learn so much for work, I’ll learn any movie star profile anyplace, and I’m perpetually searching for a greater approach to handle all of the stuff I’ve to learn.

This 12 months, type of by chance, I wound up doing a tour of all one of the best choices. And excellent news, there are a bunch of them! Instapaper continues to be nice; Matter is attractive; Omnivore is tremendous highly effective; Upnext is performing some intelligent AI stuff; even Pocket nonetheless does the job, although I dislike plenty of its current design adjustments. We’re kind of spoiled for alternative on this division.

However I’ve discovered the one for me, at the least for now. It’s Readwise Reader, which works on iOS, Android, and the net. It’s nonetheless technically in beta however is already completely indispensable in my life and workflow. Right here’s a number of the reason why:

• Reader can deal with all the pieces. It can save you articles, add books, add movies, import RSS feeds, subscribe to newsletters, and extra. The app does a very good job of sorting issues into the fitting locations, so that you’re not simply caught with a large mass of stuff. However it will probably parse, retailer, and arrange virtually something of any file kind, and I adore it for that.
• It’s greater than only a queue. The very first thing I liked about Reader was the homescreen, which exhibits you classes like “fast reads,” “lengthy reads,” and “lately added.” There’s additionally a Digest characteristic that simply grabs a bunch of stuff you’ve saved and tells you to learn it right this moment. I attempt to get via my digest day by day, and so I’m really studying stuff I saved greater than ever.
• It’s additionally type of a note-taking app. Readwise’s authentic shtick was to compile all of your notes and highlights from locations like Kindle and Pocket right into a searchable, reviewable archive. With Reader, I can spotlight something I add, or any reside webpage altogether, and all the pieces goes into that very same notes archive — all of which may sync to Notion, Obsidian, or different note-taking apps, too. All my studying, and all my notes, now reside in the identical place.
• You possibly can… learn… video. I watch plenty of YouTube, for, uh, journalism. Reader provides a (good however not good) transcript to each video you save, so you possibly can spotlight and take notes similar to on an article. Every little thing will get time-stamped, too, so you’ll find it later. It’s so useful.
• It’s tremendous quick. One cause I’ve stopped utilizing Reader prior to now is that the app was type of sluggish. A type of apps that all the time felt prefer it was working, you realize what I imply? However lately it has been slimmed down and sped up, and now it feels fairly zippy — besides when it’s loading the AI voice to learn an article aloud, which takes perpetually, however I don’t look after that characteristic a lot anyway.

I solely have two ongoing points with Reader, actually. One, it’s not essentially the most engaging app; it feels extra Productiveness Device than Lovely Studying House, you realize? (I hate the app icon, too. Fingers crossed there’s a greater one coming.) And two, it really might need too many options for my style. You possibly can add tags, there’s an Inbox and a Feed and Library and a Later and an Archive, there are 1,000,000 Views, simply determining the place all the pieces goes takes some time. Oh, and a bonus third factor: it’s not low-cost. The entire Readwise service — notice syncing, Kindle integration, all that — prices $8 a month. Nicely price it, in the event you ask me, however not low-cost. 

Talking of: in the event you use this hyperlink, I feel you’ll get two free months earlier than you begin paying as a substitute of only one. Give it a whirl, let me know what you assume and what you utilize to learn in your gadgets!

Tom Warren’s residence workplace is most likely cooler than yours. It’s positively cooler than mine! He has a teleprompter, an outrageously cool custom-built PC, some sick wall artwork, and extra. Tom is a setup connoisseur, along with being The Verge’s fundamental authority on all issues Microsoft, and I recognize him for each issues.

If you’d like all of the desk-setup deets, you possibly can discover them right here, on Reddit, or ping Tom on Threads. However I needed to know if he cares for his small display screen as a lot as the massive ones, so I requested him to share his homescreen with us.

Right here’s Tom’s homescreen, plus some data on the apps he makes use of and why:

The cellphone: iPhone 15 Professional.

The wallpaper: It’s certainly one of The Verge ones I feel. (Editor’s notice: it’s this one.)

The apps: Cellphone, Clock, Images, Digicam, App Retailer, Telegram, Messages, Settings, Slack, YouTube, Google Dwelling, Discord, Instagram, Unread, Twitch, Xbox, WhatsApp, Outlook, Chrome, X, Threads, Bluesky.

The 2 widgets are sensible ones that rotate between Spotify and my 30-min electrical energy price on the fitting, and my calendar and the climate on the left. The electrical energy one is there to watch one of the best occasions to run home equipment and cost my EV, as a result of electrical prices within the UK spiraled after the invasion of Ukraine. I even have fast entry to my safety cameras via Google Dwelling, which itself has widgets for sensible residence controls. I’ve X, Threads, and Bluesky multi functional simply accessible folder as a result of I can’t determine which one replaces Twitter!

I additionally requested Tom to share a number of issues he’s into proper now. Right here’s what he shared:

• The Wombles. I used to be an enormous fan of The Wombles rising up as a child, so after I’m not listening to EDM loudly in my headphones, you’ll discover me listening to an episode of The Wombles on BBC Sounds. It’s delightfully enjoyable, due to the voice performing of Richard E. Grant.
• TeeDee. TeeDee got here on my radar when he did a mixture of Dave and Secondcity’s “I Wanna Really feel” final 12 months. Since then I’m totally invested in his SoundCloud as a result of he always produces absolute bangers.
• The Finals. I’m obsessive about The Finals for the time being. It’s a damaging first-person enviornment shooter that’s blowing up on Twitch and Steam. It’s a giant break from the same old Name of Responsibility, Overwatch, or battle royale formulation, and I can’t cease smiling after I discover some new approach to explode buildings within the sport.

Right here’s what the Installer group is into this week. I wish to know what you’re into proper now as properly! Electronic mail installer@theverge.com together with your suggestions for something and all the pieces, and we’ll characteristic a few of our favorites right here each week. 

“I used this shelf app referred to as Anybox. This app is a field to rapidly entry any kind of merchandise: picture, textual content, doc, and hyperlinks. The app permits customization for default motion primarily based on saved merchandise kind, we will preview, copy, share, and so forth.” — Krishna

“Watching Fisk on Netflix. This Australian quirky comedy simply launched a second season this month. I really like the quick 25-minute episodes, makes it straightforward to look at and revel in.” — Carter

“As you had been speaking about media group / assortment apps, please take a look at the game-tracking app developed by IGN referred to as Playlist. It’s free and I’m liking it.” — OK

“Analogue Duo baybee.” — Chris

“AI wallpapers on the Google Pixel! I’ve been hooked on creating AI wallpapers and it feels just like the combos are actually countless. Going from an AI-generated portray of a mountain and spaceships to a surreal fort product of muslin with totally different coloration shades is wildly enjoyable!” — Michael

“Listening to The Vergecast podcast on how Twitter formally died this 12 months and Watching Blue Eye Samurai on Netflix. I extremely suggest it to anybody who likes animation.” — Paul

“If it hasn’t been talked about but, or even when it has, it’s best to take a look at the present Scavengers Reign on Max. Good and freaky sci-fi wonderfulness!” — Edward

“Utilizing Calibre to subscribe to newsletters / newspapers and have them seem on my kindle each morning offers me a wonderful little ‘sluggish web’ expertise whereas I sip my espresso.” — Jon

“This week I found Mammoth, an insanely attractive Mastodon app. Till now I’ve not been in a position to see previous Ivory. Additionally Longplay is an excellent iOS app to rediscover my album assortment in Apple Music.” — Chris

“Spotify audiobooks. I do know you don’t personal the audiobooks after however it’s actually handy to get 15 hours without cost. It’s sufficient to get me via at the least one medium-sized guide every month. I take advantage of it with Libby and Audible to learn a bunch through the month!” — Harrison

This week, The Verge printed certainly one of my favourite packages we’ve ever finished, all about the demise of Twitter. The tales are good, learn all of them, however significantly, y’all: it’s important to go to The Nice Scrollback of Alexandria and spend a couple of minutes / hours / months scrolling via 1000’s of one of the best tweets of all time. The checklist reorders each time you open the web page, and if there’s a backside of the checklist, I certain haven’t discovered it. Twitter was actually a deranged, horrible, great place. And in the event you get to the 3944 tweet (you’ll realize it whenever you see it), simply know that I laughed for totally quarter-hour at that tweet. I hope you do, too.

We’re off subsequent week for the vacation. Hope you’ve an incredible one, and see you in two weeks!