There\u2019s a lot more for me to do here, and frankly still a lot of stuff in my life that will disappear if some big-name services delete my account or go offline altogether. (I\u2019m still trying to figure out whether my email and calendar are things I should be archiving\u2026) But I now have years of journal entries, daily tasks, project archives, and more in a format I\u2019m confident I\u2019ll be able to at least open and look at on my neural face-puter in 2096. And it makes me feel better, so I figured I\u2019d share.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Oh, and by the way, there are so <\/em>many great text editors out there. Typora<\/strong> <\/strong>is probably the best writing app I\u2019ve ever used. If you write code, you already know BBEdit<\/strong> and VS Code<\/strong> <\/strong>and <\/strong>Sublime Text<\/strong>. <\/strong>Nota<\/strong>, Ulysses<\/strong>, iA Writer<\/strong>, and a bunch of others all do a good job of helping you both write and organize. Living in text files doesn\u2019t mean living in Notepad or TextEdit; you really can have the best of both worlds. Text files forever!<\/p>\n<\/div>\nScreen share<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n\n
Zo\u00eb Schiffer<\/strong>, the managing editor at the excellent Platformer<\/em> newsletter<\/strong> (and a Verge<\/em> alum!), just published one of the best tech books I\u2019ve read in a while. It\u2019s called Extremely Hardcore: Inside Elon Musk\u2019s Twitter<\/strong><\/em>, <\/em>and trust me, however wild you think the last couple of years have been at X \/ Twitter, the actual truth is much wilder. Zo\u00eb\u2019s been reporting on this saga throughout, and the book\u2019s a total winner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I asked Zo\u00eb to share her homescreen with us on the eve of her book launch, because one thing I\u2019ve always liked about Zo\u00eb is that she is forever deeply conflicted about technology. She reports on it, understands it deeply, uses it constantly, but is also perpetually trying to get her Screen Time numbers down. Since I\u2019m deeply embarrassed by my Screen Time report basically every week, I wanted to see how she does it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Here\u2019s Zo\u00eb\u2019s homescreen, plus some info on the apps she uses and why:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
The phone: <\/strong>This is an iPhone 14, I believe. The screen is cracked and I use it exclusively for work. I have an iPhone mini with no apps except Spotify and Google Maps that I use as my personal phone. The process of having a separate work phone (with apps) and a personal phone (with almost nothing interesting) has dropped my screentime to about 2.5 hours a day, not to brag.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
The wallpaper: <\/strong>My wallpaper is a photo of my hot a** husband, and my two-year-old daughter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
The apps: <\/strong>Apple Calendar, Google Maps, Apple Notes, Signal, Apple Mail, Threads, ChatGPT, Spotify, Phone, Messages.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
My main homescreen has Signal, which I use constantly to communicate with sources, and Threads, which is my primary Twitter replacement. I also have ChatGPT, which I love. I ask it about various health symptoms and also to create recipes for, like, a single chocolate chip cookie.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
One screen over I have TikTok, which is my guilty pleasure, and Bluesky, which I\u2019m trying to use more but feels a little chaotic. I also have a pregnancy tracker because (duh) I\u2019m pregnant. Right now the baby is the size of a lime, so that\u2019s nice.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
I also asked Zo\u00eb to share a few things she\u2019s into right now. Here\u2019s what she said:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n- Right now, I\u2019m rereading Harry Potter<\/strong><\/em> and listening to a lot of Caroline Shaw<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- Oh you meant on the internet??? Huh. Huuuuuh. I like the fashion newsletter Blackbird Spyplane<\/strong><\/em>. I\u2019m a big fan of the Moderated Content<\/strong><\/em> podcast.<\/li>\n
- I\u2019ve seen the comedian Jacqueline Novak<\/strong> twice IRL (the first time, I dragged Casey Newton along, not realizing the entire set is about blow jobs, and I seriously worried I was going to get fired), and she has a new comedy special on Netflix<\/strong> that really gets me.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
Crowdsourced<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n\n
Here\u2019s what the <\/em>Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you\u2019re into right now as well! Email <\/em>installer@theverge.com<\/em> or message +1 203-570-8663 with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we\u2019ll feature some of our favorites here every week.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been playing the new Dominion<\/strong> card game app! Dominion is a deckbuilding game from back in the day, and it\u2019s got several (I believe 15) expansions so far. Previous iterations of the game online and in app form never fully realized their potential. This is the best implementation of the game to date. There is offline play against AI, matchmaking, and you can also do private matches with friends via a Nintendo-esque friend code system.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Matt<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been listening to and immensely enjoying Worlds Beyond Number<\/strong><\/em>, an actual play narrative podcast from the best folks to ever do it.\u201d \u2014 Caleb<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cI received my Retroid Pocket 4 Pro<\/strong> in the mail this week after about a month of waiting from China. It exceeded expectations, and I\u2019m having a great time emulating N64, GameCube, and PlayStation 2 games. On Saturday I had a friend over, and we played couch co-op games just like the good old days using a USB-C hub and a couple controllers. Highly recommended for a huge nostalgia kick.\u201d \u2014 Nicholas<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cHaving fun playing old Nintendo titles on the Miyoo Plus<\/strong>. Such a great device. Feels like a time machine.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Jamie<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m playing, and overwhelmingly impressed with, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown<\/strong><\/em>. It feels like a love letter to Castlevania<\/em> and Metroid<\/em>, and heavily inspired by Hollow Knight<\/em>\u2026 but also innovates in some really clever ways. It also runs incredibly well on the Switch.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Steve<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cProbably one of the most used apps on my phone is Mela<\/strong>, by Silvio Rizzi. It\u2019s a thoughtfully designed recipe app designed to share with your family. It has a shared family recipe library and integrations with Reminders and Calendar to ensure my fianc\u00e9 and I are always on the same page. Oh, and it also has a built-in RSS reader for finding new recipes!\u201d \u2014 Liam<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s called What Happened Last Week<\/strong><\/em>, and it\u2019s a great way to keep up with news from countries that are not often reported on in places like Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It contains clear explanations and contexts on developments so it is easy to read even if you have never heard of the names in the story. I find it really useful and complementary to the big Western news sources.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Richard<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cWindows95Man<\/strong> is Finland\u2019s entry to Eurovision this year, and it\u2019s amazing on so many layers. Watching the video on YouTube is mandatory for full appreciation.\u201d \u2014 Sighjinks<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cThe new season of Game Changer<\/strong><\/em> on Dropout started this week, and it\u2019s a treat as always!\u201d \u2014\u00a0Noah<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSigning off<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n\n
The biggest, weirdest tech story of this weekend is coming from a slightly surprising place: the floor of the NBA All-Star Game. Have you seen the videos of the all-LED full-court screen<\/strong>? Here\u2019s an example<\/strong> of what this kind of thing looks like during a game, too. It looks like a total nightmare to play on, and I\u2019d bet $10 we\u2019ll never see this in a real game with any stakes. But boy <\/em>is it going to be something to watch. This is my kind of augmented reality.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n