A better end-to-end AI application finally exists

Hi friends! you welcome in Installer No. 20, your guide to the best and edge-The most wonderful things in the world. (If you're new here, hello, hello, hello, how are you, how are you, welcome to the group, and also, you can read all the old issues at Installer Homepage.)

It's the first issue of 2024, which is still very strange to write – I hope you had a happy holiday and a happy break! I spent most of my time sick and then taking care of a sick child, which meant a lot of Elmo and the desk I am trying harder than ever to beat my high grades hole.

This week, I was also reading about Crypto farms And Artificial intelligence influencers And Tara ReidMy new break-in Instant Pot Air Fryer (Send me recipes!), and pay attention to Matt Mullenweg's recipes The annual What's in My Bag publication.-Play an annoying amount of EA Sports FC 24, Immerse myself in r/KeyboardLayouts subredditand discover new tones through a huge combination of Songs that turn forty this yearFinally, I started cleaning my desk.

I also have some new AI applications for you word– Game-like gameplay, some fun things to see, and some rides and shows worth revisiting. Some of these things are not from this week, so consider this just a catch-up while you're on vacation.

(As always, the best part of… Installer These are your thoughts and advice. What did you want to know more about? What cool tricks do you know that everyone should do? What app should everyone use? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you'd like to get the installer in your inbox a day before we publish it here, subscribe here.)

• Microsoft Copilot. This is Microsoft's all-in-one AI implementation, essentially a ChatGPT competitor but much nicer to look at. I like it so far! How important is the Copilot deal for Microsoft? It adds the Copilot key to Windows keyboards — the first new key in three decades.
• Keyboard clicks creator. It's 2012 again, y'all! It's been a while since I've gotten excited about an iPhone accessory, but this physical keyboard accessory looks great. I wonder if my fingers remember how to type on a phone keyboard.
• Bitconid. Another in a large and growing collection of colorful documentaries about crypto heroes. This Netflix story is a little different, as it's basically just a crime story told by the criminal behind it. I wouldn't consider it, you know, “gospel truth,” but it's an interesting story.
• Presented by Aya. If you're someone who sometimes needs to create really cool slide decks but hate creating slide decks, this app is a godsend. Simple and straightforward, kind of impossible to mess up. The app has been available on Mac for a while, but it's now in beta for iPad and iPhone, and it looks great.
• Endless trivial quest. Not exactly the most innovative or surprising wordKind of game – It's just a bunch of trivia questions every day. But it's fun! The AI ​​mode is also neat: pick a topic, any topic, and it will generate questions (in my experience, sometimes very strange) for as long as you're willing to answer them.
• The first time someone has been able to “beat” a game of Tetris. I don't really know how to explain it: it's just 40 minutes of super-fast speed Tetris The gameplay becomes more dramatic and ends in a very boring and completely thrilling way. It's a sporting achievement, playing like this! Also, here Good explanatory video About why this is such a big deal.
• Story graph. This app is having a bit of a moment – ​​like “Servers crashed “We've been very popular” – over the past week or so, largely because it's a great place for readers. It's got some new stuff too, like barcode scanning to keep track of books and a really cool recommendations section. I will be using this and Letterboxd a lot this year.
• The Hollywood Reporter's Complete Songwriters Roundtable. I got to watch this group of accomplished songwriters — Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Dua Lipa, Cynthia Erivo, Julia Michaels, and Jon Batiste — talk about the music industry, microphones, MP3 players, and how to stay creative and open forever. Bonus: New round actress Also cool.
• King's Day 2024. Mickey Mouse is the biggest new name in the public domain this year, but there are plenty of great movies, music recordings, and stories now available for anyone to post and play with. Thanks to AI, we're about to spend all of 2024 talking about copyright law, so let's celebrate the victories when we get them!
• The complete Tesla Cybertruck tour! we. Owns. Mop Answers. Courtesy of Out of Spec Reviews, this nearly two-hour video is as comprehensive a look at the Cybertruck as you'll ever find. Some cool stuff, some terrible ideas, and a very flexible mop.

From time to time, the edge's Richard Lawler Trying to use a Mac. He's mostly a Windows guy, but he's also our news editor and, in general, a guy who tries to stay on top of everything, so he's always on the go. And I always know when he tries to use his Mac again because he starts complaining about how bad the Mac's window management tools are and how you have to download a separate app just to do basic OS-wide things. (All fair points!)

Richard's also not generally a “try everything new just for the sake of it” type, so when I asked him to share his home screen, I thought he'd show us a simple, optimized system that's exactly what he needed. You were pretty much right.

This is Richard's home screen, plus some information about which apps he uses and why:

Wall paper: this picture On the lock screen, the “Icelandic Aurora Borealis” From Google wallpapers.

Applications: Google Home, Google Wallet, Camera, IoCare, Google Keep, Nest, Clock, Google Chat, Google Photos, TikTok, Google Recorder, HondaLink, Google Play, Phone, Messages, Chrome, Gmail, Overdrop.

Overprojection It's my weather app. I have an ongoing love/hate relationship with it because it seems like every 18 months or so it has a battery drain issue and I have to reinstall it for a while, but I always come back because it's the best answer to the question of “Did it snow enough last night that I had to get up?” Out of bed early and cleaning the car?” At least without getting out of bed and looking out the window.

The most important app on my home screen (other than Google to save information As long as he lives) is the main screen. I have used Action launcher For as long as I can remember, along with Voxel themed icons. Beyond a consistent appearance, customizable shortcuts via swipe or long press make it easy to get directly to where I want to go.

I also asked Richard to share with me some of the things he's interested in now. Here's what he said:

• I'm still playing Apex Legends And Observation and monitoring Just as bad as I've ever been, mostly as a podcast listening companion.
• Season 4 of Open Mike Eagle's What happened was He just wrapped up, and I had to listen to him. It's ostensibly a series of interviews with Questlove about the history/discography of The Roots Things fall apartbut it's also a time capsule of the entire late '90s rap era narrated by someone who was there, covering The Notorious B.I.G., J Dilla, The Fugees, etc.
• Other than that, it's all NBA podcasts. My newest addition is League status By JokicJoestar, and the TikTok I can't stop watching is This channel Which only posts ads for old cars like This is for the Chrysler Laser.

Here's what Installer community this week. I want to know what you're up to now too! e-mail installer@theverge.com With your recommendations for anything and everything, we'll be featuring some of our favorites here each week. And for more recommendations that we can't fit here, sign up This conversation topics And this On Mastodon.

“Confusion Amnesty International. I started checking it out today, and I really feel like they're onto something. The user interface and presentation are very nice, and the way it displays the sources of information it summarizes is a great addition. – not shiny

“Wrestling Kingdom 18. New Japan Pro-Wrestling has just relaunched its live streaming service, and they're going to have an amazing $12 show with production values ​​that American companies can't match. It's exciting enough with just the camera zoom and excellent English commentary. – Sawyer

“Spaces for Mac. It solves a lot of my window management issues on Mac, and Workspaces is kind of genius. Workspaces organize your screen and run all the apps you need for a specific workspace *in the screen space you want.* The window management system also appears when you hover near your webcam. There is also a dedicated drop space. And the whole thing integrates with Raycast! – Mario

“I wanted to take a moment to recommend Ish application. As a software engineer, discovering a Linux virtualization environment running smoothly on iOS was a pleasant surprise. It may seem a little strange, but it actually works seamlessly on your iPhone or iPad. A completely unexpected discovery for anyone in the world of technology! – Andres

“moderation. I've been really leaning towards a distinct wallpaper for light mode and dark mode on my Mac. This app makes it very easy to create custom apps unlike those bundled by Apple! -Kevin

“I've fallen in love with a Mastodon customer all over again ice Cube. was used Mona For a while, but IceCubes has gotten some serious updates over the past few weeks. It's awesome, feature-rich, and open source! Best Mastodon agent out there.” – Daniel

“Recently completed to cut On Apple TV, I'm obsessed. Great stuff if you're a fan Black mirror. I can't wait for season 2.” – Zuck

“I have recently renewed my interest in Marvel Snap. It's an engaging, fast-paced card game that's perfect for short play sessions. Just a few days ago, I had the pleasure of playing a few rounds before the movie hit the theater. It's perfect for those short sessions! – Wade

“I was just torn the Hands of the Emperor By Victoria Goddard. It's 700 pages long but reads very quickly. A middle-aged man is great at his job, but his family doesn't understand what he is at all. He sees his boss's loneliness and helps him face the world more naturally. – DLS

“I absolutely love it Plex and Tidal integration To listen to music and Banu Scrubbler To browse to Last.fm. I've also been playing with ChatGPT integration in Plexamp To create playlists with text prompts, and it was fun!” – J

I'm always looking for games that I can play in small portions. to years, I will play mario tennis on Nintendo Switch as a way to take a break between meetings or spend a few minutes waiting for the water to boil. But many toys are not easy to pick up and put down.

My new goal is what I didn't expect: Golf Plus In Meta Quest. It's an amazingly realistic golf game that you can play on a variety of difficulty levels and on lots of different courses from all over the world. It's a game so cool and fun that I recently searched things like “can you connect a Quest controller to a real golf course” and I'm almost certainly about to spend $30 on it This club-like sunlaced accessory. I'll play a hole, have a meeting, play three holes, and more work. I'm that guy now! How did this happen? I think it's time to buy some dockers and a jacket. wish me luck.