{"id":768491,"date":"2026-05-02T15:57:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T15:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/768491\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T15:57:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T15:57:23","slug":"the-things-were-building-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/768491\/","title":{"rendered":"The things we\u2019re building now"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 126, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you\u2019re new here, welcome, I need 10 or 15 skirts from Calvin Klein, and also you can read all the old editions at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/installer-newsletter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Installer homepage<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">Happy Ruthless Self-Promotion Week! We\u2019re dedicating almost all of this issue to the stuff we\u2019ve been making recently. Personally, I\u2019ve been reading about <a href=\"https:\/\/observer.co.uk\/news\/science-technology\/article\/down-and-out-at-the-tesla-diner\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>the Tesla diner<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/04\/26\/business\/dwarkesh-patel-podcast-ai.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;__readwiseLocation=\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Dwarkesh Patel<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newstatesman.com\/culture\/radio-podcasts\/2025\/12\/lets-hear-it-for-the-rest-is-history\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>The Rest Is History<\/strong><\/a>, starting a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themoviedb.org\/tv\/97546-ted-lasso\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Ted Lasso<\/strong><\/a> rewatch to get ready for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/entertainment\/919544\/welcome-back-coach\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">season 4<\/a>, watching <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ucy9VTLDwPU\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>a robot injure Joanna Stern<\/strong><\/a>, continuing down the rabbit hole of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=G_JOCxEB0ns\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>gorgeous Japanese stationery<\/strong><\/a>, wondering if those cool shoes would also help me <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/athletics\/articles\/cn898pn2x08o\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>run a sub-two-hour marathon<\/strong><\/a><strong>, <\/strong>following lots and lots of folks from <a href=\"https:\/\/postgame.substack.com\/p\/an-incomplete-catalogue-of-games\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Chris Plante\u2019s great list of games media<\/strong><\/a>, and hunting for the perfect recipe for Rice Krispies Treats. I know it\u2019s out there somewhere.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">I also have for you a new gaming controller, a bunch of fun stuff to watch this weekend, a couple of interesting AI-y things, and a lot of feelings about how we use technology. Let\u2019s get to it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you watching \/ reading \/ playing \/ listening to \/ scouring estate sales for this week? Tell me everything: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/tech\/922505\/mailto:installer@theverge.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">installer@theverge.com<\/a>. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, forward it to them and tell them to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/subscribe\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">subscribe here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<ul class=\"duet--article--unordered-list _1ymtmqpi _11h7yix0 _1xwtict1\">\n<li class=\"_11h7yix1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=1025X1701640&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fstore.steampowered.com%2Fsale%2Fsteamcontroller%3Fcurator_clanid%3D45479024\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>The Steam Controller<\/strong><\/a><strong>. <\/strong>I really respect the way Valve just understands what its users want. In this case, users want a super comfortable, outrageously customizable $99 controller that can be used in basically whatever bonkers way you can imagine. Sounds like we all would tweak the joysticks a little, but that Valve basically nailed this.<\/li>\n<li class=\"_11h7yix1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.themoviedb.org\/movie\/1314481-the-devil-wears-prada-2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>The Devil Wears Prada 2<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong> I swear, this and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themoviedb.org\/movie\/1430077-hokum\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Hokum<\/strong><\/a> have all the makings of a Barbenheimer-style doubleheader. And if you don\u2019t get to a theater this weekend for what is evidently a pretty solid sequel, at least watch the original Devil Wears Prada this weekend. Holds up.<\/li>\n<li class=\"_11h7yix1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.themoviedb.org\/tv\/270476-widow-s-bay\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Widow\u2019s Bay<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong> All my TV-nerd friends have been waiting with bated breath for this new Apple TV show, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/entertainment\/919634\/widows-bay-apple-tv-cast-interview\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">apparently it delivers<\/a>. Funny and scary in equal measure is very hard to pull off, and I\u2019m thrilled Matthew Rhys and co. are going straight on my watchlist. <\/li>\n<li class=\"_11h7yix1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zed.dev\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Zed<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong> I\u2019ve been hearing good things about this super-fast code editor for a while, and it <a href=\"https:\/\/zed.dev\/blog\/zed-1-0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">finally officially launched<\/a>. Some interesting AI integrations in here, but really its job is to work everywhere and never ever slow down. On that front, it seems to be a hit.<\/li>\n<li class=\"_11h7yix1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/talkie-lm\/talkie\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Talkie<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong> Such a cool idea: a large language model exclusively trained on text from before 1931, with all the trappings of modern AI interaction but no knowledge of the modern world. These \u201cvintage models\u201d are starting to become a thing, and they\u2019re a fascinating way to interact with history.<\/li>\n<li class=\"_11h7yix1\"><strong>\u201c<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=S8mG6KOku1I\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>I\u2019m done renting my digital life<\/strong><\/a><strong>.\u201d<\/strong> Really great video in which Iskren gets fed up with all the subscriptions in his life, and tries to go hard into physical media, self-hosting, and more. It\u2019s fascinating! And hard! And expensive!<\/li>\n<li class=\"_11h7yix1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Ykvf3MunGf8\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>John Oliver on AI chatbots<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong> I know, I know, more John Oliver, surprise. But I feel like I\u2019ve been screaming into a void that AI chatbots are not your friends, should not be your friends, dear lord stop treating them like friends, and Oliver does that and more in an extremely fun and thoughtful way.<\/li>\n<li class=\"_11h7yix1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/housemarque.com\/games\/saros\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Saros<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong> A brutally difficult game in which you try to stop a bad tech company from taking over a planet to strip it of its resources \u2014 a little too on the nose for our present times, maybe? Still, it\u2019s a solid follow-up to Returnal that I suspect will make a lot of people happy.<\/li>\n<li class=\"_11h7yix1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/neal.fun\/cursor-camp\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Cursor Camp<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong> A new John Oliver thing and a new Neal.fun thing? What a week! I don\u2019t even really know how to explain this one. It\u2019s a little Club Penguin-y, in the most delightful way. I played this way longer than I planned.<\/li>\n<li class=\"_11h7yix1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lovable.dev\/blog\/mobile-app\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Lovable\u2019s mobile app<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong> A lot of y\u2019all out in the Installerverse have told me you\u2019re using Lovable for vibe-coding projects. Now there\u2019s an app for <a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=1025X1701640&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Ddev.lovable.build%26pli%3D1\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Android<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/lovable-build-apps-with-ai\/id6757471107\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>iOS<\/strong><\/a>, so you can make mobile apps with your mobile apps. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">For the last several weeks, I\u2019ve spent a lot of my free time (and a lot of my work time, let\u2019s be honest) messing around in Claude Code to build myself a productivity tool. For a while, I thought I\u2019d build a whole to-do list system from the ground up; that fell apart by about the third feature. Ditto the Google Keep-meets-Obsidian thing I was trying to build. But then I had an epiphany: What if I treated all these tools like infrastructure, let them handle all the hard technical work, and built myself a UI I loved? I could handle that. And more importantly, $20 a month of Claude Code could handle it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">I call it Daily, because it doesn\u2019t need a better name, because it\u2019s just for me. Here\u2019s what it looks like:<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"kqz8fh1\" href=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Daily-screenshots.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,4.0045766590389,100,91.990846681922\" data-pswp-height=\"2412.0000000000005\" data-pswp-width=\"3618\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\"><img alt=\"Three screenshots of a productivity app, showing notes, tasks, and events.\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"x271pn0\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Daily-screenshots.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Image: David Pierce \/ The Verge<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">I use it on the web on my computer, and through an iOS app I just managed to get functional the other day. Basically the way it works is this: I connect the app to <a href=\"https:\/\/calendar.google.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Google Calendar<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.todoist.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Todoist<\/strong><\/a>, and it shows me everything I have to do today. Another tab is synced to <a href=\"http:\/\/raindrop.io\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Raindrop<\/strong><\/a>, which shows a simple list of everything I\u2019ve bookmarked in reverse chronological order, plus buttons to quickly delete a link or move it to a specific folder. Just being able to see all this stuff in one place, in a way I find visually pleasing, was kind of the whole ballgame.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">The other thing it does is input: This app has a single window through which I can create a task (which syncs to Todoist), an event (to Google Calendar), or a note (which creates a text file that immediately gets picked up in <a href=\"https:\/\/obsidian.md\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Obsidian<\/strong><\/a>). After years of fiddling with apps like <a href=\"https:\/\/getdrafts.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Drafts<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.raycast.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Raycast<\/strong><\/a> to build this kind of universal capture system, I finally have one that works exactly the way I wanted it to.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">I\u2019m still \u201cusing\u201d all the same apps as before, and paying for most of them, it\u2019s just that now I have a way to see them all at once, and interact with them all the same way. It has gone a long way toward taming the chaos of my day-to-day planning. And all it took was approximately 450,000 hours of copying and pasting error logs into Claude Code \u2014 I didn\u2019t create this thing so much as bugfix it into existence. But it works, mostly, and it\u2019s working great for me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">For the last couple of weeks, I\u2019ve been asking you to share the things you\u2019ve been making recently. Apps, games, albums, crochet projects, anything and everything. This newsletter only works because you share the things you\u2019re into, so I figure every once in a while we should just turn this place into a bit of Installerverse show and tell.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">Thank you to everyone who wrote in! There\u2019s no space here to feature nearly all the cool ideas I\u2019ve seen this week, so we\u2019re going to have to do this again. Here\u2019s a whole bunch of my favorites so far. (I\u2019ve done my best to vet these, but as always, and especially in this vibe-coded moment in which we find ourselves, you should click and use and try everything on the internet with caution.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI\u2019m a lawyer, and I had an important order due to be released sometime on a Friday afternoon \u2014 I figured there must be a way to automate checking for that order. And from that little python script (thank you Kagi AI) grew <a href=\"https:\/\/scottsapps.github.io\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>SCOTUSWatch<\/strong><\/a> (with Claude Code\u2019s help). The iOS (App Store), Windows (Microsoft Store), and Android (sideload) apps all receive push notifications of new opinions and orders from an AWS Lambda instance that scrapes the Supreme Court\u2019s website on a calendar-aware schedule. The iOS and Windows apps also get optional brief AI summaries (the Android app is currently notification-only). The AWS code also writes to a Bluesky bot (just because it can).\u201d \u2014 Scott<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI host <a href=\"https:\/\/businessof.tech\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Business of Tech<\/strong><\/a>, a daily podcast covering the business side of the technology industry \u2014 not the consumer stuff, but the companies and people who actually run the tech that keeps businesses alive. Think managed service providers, IT service companies, the vendors who build for them.\u201d \u2014 Dave<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cJust a few months ago I launched my app <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/cross-sync-tasks\/id6760949467\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Cross<\/strong><\/a>. Cross is a to-do app that syncs to Notion. And makes it so much easier and faster to create a task in Notion.\u201d \u2014 Luis<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cOne of my favourite things is grab &amp; go food, in particular Itsu and its fresh sushi. As a youthful spendthrift artiste, I particularly enjoyed their \u2018everything is half price 30 minutes before we close\u2019 policy. But since all the (almost 50) outlets have different opening hours, it was always a bit of a crapshoot as to whether you were near one that was closing when you\u2019re hungry fo sweet sweet soosh. My Dragon\u2019s Den (Shark Tank) dream was an app that could tell me where and when the 50% bargs were available. And then Claude Code was born and <a href=\"https:\/\/assets.simonfeilder.com\/itsu\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>made my dumb little dream come true<\/strong><\/a>!\u201d \u2014 Simon<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI made <a href=\"https:\/\/buenavida.run\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Buena Vida Run Club<\/strong><\/a>. It\u2019s Strava + MyFitnessPal + Runna + more in one app. This is no weekend vibe code&#8230; I\u2019ve spent the past 16 months researching, designing &amp; building. No AI hallucinations, just lots of detailed math &amp; science.\u201d \u2014 Cole<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI made a short film in 2023 about our current ever creeping descent into AI madness called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=S1GTNJc11wU\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Eating 38 Cheeseburgers<\/strong><\/a>. In a time when so many of us already feel isolated from one another, I saw this technology as something that could super charge that disconnection. This film was my way of unpacking those ideas.\u201d \u2013 Andrew<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI built a macOS app to automatically organize your files: <a href=\"https:\/\/lucas.io\/rulebook\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Rulebook<\/strong><\/a>. You can set up rules, and it quietly sorts, renames, converts, beeps, moves, copies, archives, and tags your files in the background \u2014 like a personal assistant for your folders.\u201d \u2014 Lucas<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI\u2019ve built <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamepalapp.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>GamePal<\/strong><\/a> as a way to catalogue my ever growing game collection and track my play in a journal. As a designer it\u2019s always been my dream to build my own iPhone (and soon iPad\/Mac!) app and October 2024 was the moment. I\u2019ve been chipping away at it for the past year or so and I\u2019m not stopping anytime soon.\u201d \u2014 Jeremy<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI\u2019ve started vibe coding an app that transcribes, summarizes, and takes notes of my lectures using only the horsepower in my computer thanks to open models that are very efficient at understanding human language. This means that I don\u2019t even have to bring a notebook anymore! I just need to take a voice recording on my phone, plug it into the app and 10 minutes later I have a transcription that I can later summarize with Gemma 4 on my computer or plug into Claude so that it adds the notes into my Notion. No Otter or Memo AI or other unnecessary subscription needed.\u201d \u2014 Franklin<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI built <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newslog.me\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Newslog<\/strong><\/a>. It bundles your newsletters, RSS feeds, and articles into a single daily digest with an index and summaries. It\u2019s designed specifically for calm, distraction-free reading on Kindle and deep-work archiving in Obsidian.\u201d \u2014 Lucas<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/daymark-dear-future-me\/id6759787971\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Daymark<\/strong><\/a> is an iOS app that allows you to send virtual postcards to your future self. I struggle with perfectionism and noticing my progress, so I use this app to remind my future self of how things were in the weeks\/months before. Other people use it in different ways, like as a personal diary, as reminders of quotes they heard, and much more. All data is stored on-device and it is 100% free.\u201d \u2014 Antonio<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI\u2019ve been working on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.andrewpatra.com\/work\/hotline\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>a project<\/strong><\/a> that retrofitted an Arduino Uno into an old touchtone landline phone. The idea is that you can \u2018dial\u2019 in to a couple of numbers that I programmed and you\u2019d get a song or a Fallout style audio log. This project was for a class in my grad school program, and calling myself a \u2018creative engineer\u2019 has been a really rewarding experience as I transition out of ad agency life.\u201d \u2014 Andrew<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI first released <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quakeinfo.app\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>QuakeInfo<\/strong><\/a> in November of 2007, and it began as a way for me to learn iPhone development. QuakeInfo helped me stay informed about earthquakes around the world and near me (I live in the San Francisco Bay Area). My goal is to make it the best-looking, most usable, and most informative earthquake app on iOS. And lately, I\u2019ve been trying Claude Code as a way to increase my velocity and ship more features.\u201d \u2014 Adam<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cIt\u2019s called <a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=1025X1701640&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Dcom.thepascalheynol.changelock%26pli%3D1\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>ChangeLock<\/strong><\/a> and it\u2019s simply shoving in your face how much you use (i.e. unlock) your phone. Then at the end of each month asks you to donate a cent for each unlock. Donation is voluntary of course, but the little bit of pain on each unlock actually helps make this work psychologically. It\u2019s only on Android because iOS doesn\u2019t give you the same kind of data access, unfortunately.\u201d \u2014 Pascal<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI made <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/Stevoisiak\/Stevos-GenAI-Blocklist\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>a filter<\/strong><\/a> that hides Generative AI features on websites: Google\u2019s AI summaries, Copilot buttons, Reddit Answers, and more. I created it because of the numerous AI features popping up everywhere, and I was surprised something like this didn\u2019t exist already.\u201d \u2014 Steven<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI made <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tuesdaynightmovienight.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Tuesday Night Movie Night<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 the newsletter where readers get one good movie recommendation, every Tuesday. Our picks are 100 percent algorithm-free. We watch every movie we pick and write up the recommendation ourselves.\u201d \u2014 Blake<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI\u2019ve been writing fiction for about 10 years and trying to find agents of publishers in a changing, confusing writer\u2019s market. I decided to make <a href=\"https:\/\/echofuturetruth.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>an old-skool static website<\/strong><\/a> to publish my three-part speculative fiction novel as a serial, week by week. I\u2019ve finished the first two books and book three starts next week. On each page is the text of a chapter, and an audio reading (it\u2019s also going out through podcast networks).\u201d \u2014 David<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI built <a href=\"https:\/\/app.wedsearch.ai\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>WedSearch<\/strong><\/a> entirely in Claude with zero coding knowledge. I\u2019m now selling this to wedding suppliers and supplementing my wedding filmmaking income! Insane.\u200b\u201d \u2014 Arranv<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cTwo years ago, you featured my app <a href=\"https:\/\/marcosatanaka.com\/press-kit\/play\/play-press-kit.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Play<\/strong><\/a> for saving and organizing videos. Since then, it\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/marcosatanaka.com\/whats-new\/play\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">grown a lot<\/a>: better video player, support for transcripts and new AI features like summaries and Q&amp;A. You can also filter subscription videos to hide YouTube shorts, and much more.\u201d \u2014 Marcos<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/did-it.co\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Did It<\/strong><\/a>, a daily wins journal I built, works on the opposite principle to a todo list. It only lets you record what you already did. No tasks waiting for tomorrow, just a quiet record of your day, however small or ordinary. Some days the win is shipping something. Some days it\u2019s getting out of bed. Both count.\u201d \u2014 Pascal<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI built <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5sSZlP6HIWE\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>a working <\/strong><strong>Cyberpunk 2077<\/strong><strong> Radio<\/strong><\/a>. Hugely ambitious project (the FFT code to make the real-time spectrum display was a challenge, but authentic to how the radio works in the game). I started by extracting the 3D model file from the PC version of the game, designing a 1:1 scale shell in CAD, printing it, then sourcing the LED matrix display, audio amplifier, and a few other power components, wiring it all together, then writing the Python code to make it all work. Took a few months.\u201d \u2014 David<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI make <a href=\"https:\/\/theopencase.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>OpenCase<\/strong><\/a> (well, my wife and I are the entire company), the patented iPhone case with the open space for MagSafe accessories. It\u2019s crazy how many advantages we have been alerted to by our customers due to the uniqueness of the design.\u201d \u2014 John<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI got into home espresso two years ago and despite watching hundreds of YouTube videos, I felt like I was missing the right advice to pull better shots. I tried a few tracking apps and they all looked rough, so I built my own, called <a href=\"https:\/\/testflight.apple.com\/join\/yrKBnctM\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Dial<\/strong><\/a>. It\u2019s Bauhaus-inspired (because I love it), and it tells you what you need to change for your next shot based on what you tasted.\u201d \u2014 Christophe<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cI\u2019m an author, and last year my debut novel <a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=1025X1701640&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.skimresources.com%3Fid%3D1025X1701724%26xs%3D1%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fbookshop.org%252Fp%252Fbooks%252Fthe-phoenix-pencil-company-a-novel-allison-king%252F5ed502fcd6030ea4%253Fean%253D9780063446236%2526next%253Dt%26xcust%3DVergeInstaller050126\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>The Phoenix Pencil Company<\/strong><\/a> was published (and picked as part of Reese\u2019s Book Club!). While on the surface it\u2019s historical fantasy about a pencil company in 1940s Shanghai, really at its core it\u2019s a book all about data privacy. I think this book featuring a young software engineer and her relationship with her grandmother, and about the stories we choose to pass on or keep hidden, is very Verge-y :)\u201d \u2014 Allison<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">I do my best work while listening to movie soundtracks. I don\u2019t know why \u2014 maybe it just makes life in a Google Doc feel more epic? I know I\u2019m not the only one, either. My personal Mount Rushmore of the genre is probably:<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">I finally saw Project Hail Mary the other day, and knew halfway through the movie that <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/47Kmv7voPLipz2zbyD8v84?si=0eDfk2mBSCK1wFhJT5VBnw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>its score <\/strong><\/a>was going to go in my rotation. It\u2019s a little pluckier than some of the others I like, but it\u2019s a perfect mood-setter. It also got me listening to Daniel Pemberton\u2019s other scores, including <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/4kDt5YadNve6Oq40IyfFBH?si=6MtD1_0aS0CjIHfOlE9ktw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Steve Jobs<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/6nlUFeFAPjaDTA7A0VVwnO?si=T9VHqME2QQGANNNh2TXQ5Q\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse<\/strong><\/a>, both of which are also fabulous. If my writing suddenly gets vastly more thrilling, dramatic, and dare I say world-saving, you\u2019ll know why.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Follow topics and authors<\/strong> from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"tly2fw3\">\n<li id=\"follow-author-article_footer-dmcyOmF1dGhvclByb2ZpbGU6Mjc0\">David PierceClose<img alt=\"David Pierce\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1bw37385 x271pn0\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DAVID_PIERCE.0.jpg\"\/>\n<p>David Pierce<\/p>\n<p class=\"fv263x1\">Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n<p>FollowFollow<\/p>\n<p class=\"fv263x4\"><a class=\"fv263x5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/authors\/david-pierce\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">See All by David Pierce<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>AppsClose\n<p>Apps<\/p>\n<p class=\"fv263x1\">Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n<p>FollowFollow<\/p>\n<p class=\"fv263x4\"><a class=\"fv263x5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/apps\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">See All Apps<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>GadgetsClose\n<p>Gadgets<\/p>\n<p class=\"fv263x1\">Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n<p>FollowFollow<\/p>\n<p class=\"fv263x4\"><a class=\"fv263x5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/gadgets\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">See All Gadgets<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>InstallerClose\n<p>Installer<\/p>\n<p class=\"fv263x1\">Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n<p>FollowFollow<\/p>\n<p class=\"fv263x4\"><a class=\"fv263x5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/installer-newsletter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">See All Installer<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>StreamingClose\n<p>Streaming<\/p>\n<p class=\"fv263x1\">Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n<p>FollowFollow<\/p>\n<p class=\"fv263x4\"><a class=\"fv263x5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/streaming\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">See All Streaming<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>TechClose\n<p>Tech<\/p>\n<p class=\"fv263x1\">Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n<p>FollowFollow<\/p>\n<p class=\"fv263x4\"><a class=\"fv263x5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/tech\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">See All Tech<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 126, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":768492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[691,9470,738,705,45002,6584,242,158,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-768491","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-apps","10":"tag-artificial-intelligence","11":"tag-gadgets","12":"tag-installer","13":"tag-streaming","14":"tag-tech","15":"tag-technology","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116505808053727129","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}