GoKawiilis editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.
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Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 115, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, go Seahawks I guess, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)
I also have for you the best way to watch sports for the next few weeks, a great update to a great bookmarking app, a bunch of fun nostalgia-bait things, and much more. Also, don’t forget to send me your favorite non-Big Tech apps! I’ve heard from a ton of you about the email apps, productivity tools, office suites, and messaging platforms you’ve switched to, and I want to hear more. Lots more coming on that next week. For now, let’s dive in.
(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you watching / playing / reading / listening to / hacking with OpenClaw 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.)
The Drop
Peacock’s Gold Zone . This is not strictly a new thing, really, just a PSA: For my money there is no better way to watch the Olympics than through Gold Zone, which whips around the Games to show you the most interesting thing happening at any given moment. Peacock in general is handily the best app for watching the Olympics (at least in the US), and I suspect I will watch way too much of it the next few weeks. This is not strictly a new thing, really, just a PSA: For my money there is no better way to watch the Olympics than through Gold Zone, which whips around the Games to show you the most interesting thing happening at any given moment. Peacock in general is handily the best app for watching the Olympics (at least in the US), and I suspect I will watch way too much of it the next few weeks.
Raindrop.io Stella . A big AI-powered update to my favorite bookmarking app. So far, it’s what you’d expect: a much better way to search, ask questions about, and otherwise interact with your bookmarks. After trying a bunch of other apps, I’ve been back in on Raindrop recently, and this comes at the perfect time. A big AI-powered update to my favorite bookmarking app. So far, it’s what you’d expect: a much better way to search, ask questions about, and otherwise interact with your bookmarks. After trying a bunch of other apps, I’ve been back in on Raindrop recently, and this comes at the perfect time.
Super Nintendo . I really don’t think there’s another company quite like Nintendo. Keza MacDonald’s book is a business story, a game story, and more besides — I’ve only just started reading it and I’ve already learned a ton. (Stay tuned, by the way: we have an excertp from the book running on the site on Monday.) I really don’t think there’s another company quite like Nintendo. Keza MacDonald’s book is a business story, a game story, and more besides — I’ve only just started reading it and I’ve already learned a ton. (Stay tuned, by the way: we have an excertp from the book running on the site on Monday.)
Codex for Mac . OpenAI’s answer to Claude Code got a desktop app, and I’ve been hearing pretty good things about it. I’m particularly intrigued by the Automations feature, which I intend to use to help clean up my Downloads folder every week or so. OpenAI’s answer to Claude Code got a desktop app, and I’ve been hearing pretty good things about it. I’m particularly intrigued by the Automations feature, which I intend to use to help clean up my Downloads folder every week or so.
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