The AR and VR headsets you’ll actually wear

Hello, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 54, your guide to the best and At the limit-the most beautiful things in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, so glad you found us, and you can also read all the old editions at Installer home page.)

This week I read about AI slope AND sports betting AND Jony Ivecanceling my schedule for the new season of The great British Bake Off, watching Hitman AND Pirates of the Caribbean AND A quiet place: first day on airplane seat screens as their directors intended, by subscribing instantly Hasan Minhaj’s new YouTube showand relentlessly troll people with Vergecast clip through The new feature of Pocket Casts.

I also have for you a couple of new Meta gadgets, the mobile game that will eat up all your free time, a couple of long-awaited new movies, the best Spotify feature yet and much more. There’s so much going on! Let’s delve deeper.

(As always, the best part Installer they are your ideas and suggestions. What are you doing at the moment? What should everyone else read/watch/play/try/build with clay this week? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone else who might like it Installertell them to sign up here.)

• Meta 3S research. My biggest issues with the Quest 3 were price and passthrough, and this new model seems to have solved both. It’s back in the “totally reasonable game console” range, and passthrough demos have appeared a lot clearer than before. They look great, although not as good as…
• Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer limited edition. I already own two pairs of Meta’s smart glasses (don’t ask), but I still want this clear pair. They’re more expensive and actually negate some of the non-gadget-related good vibes of the other models, but they look like it so good.
• BalatroMobile. This might be the most recommended thing in the history of Installer — I swear, every week someone tells me how much this poker roguelike has taken over their life. And now it’s on your phone! $10, no data collected, no microtransactions, my screen time is about to go through the roof.
• Wolves. This Clooney-Pitt movie for Apple TV Plus has a fascinating backstory that says a lot about the future of Hollywood, but I also love a big-budget movie where movie stars say interesting lines in interesting ways. It seems to be exactly that.
• The new RokuUltra. This week I helped review Google TV Streamer and I really like it. But I’m also excited to see Roku keep pushing: the new one doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s faster and better, and that’s a great thing.
• The wild robot. I would really love to tell you to go see Megalopolis this weekend, but every single indication is that the movie is garbage. But people seem excited about this one, an animated movie about a stranded robot that looks adorable and delightful and that I’ll end up watching 100 times.
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. A Zelda game… where you can play as Zelda. This is the dream! This game doesn’t appear to be as big, grand, or platform-defining as Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, but it still looks smart and fun.
• Spotify AI playlist features. This is terrible news for my never-ending quest to quit Spotify: AI playlists are Great. Now that the feature is available in the US, I’m using it to name a few bands or songs, as well as a general vibe, and select a few dozen songs that, at least so far, always seem to hit the spot. Spotify is very, very good at this part of the music game.
• Social Sciences. Being a child is hard work. And this paper delves into with a group of students how much…maybe not always harder, but definitely more complicated, social media has made being a kid in 2024. This also comes from a good team, and I’m excited about it.
• The ear of nothingness open. The nulla’s headphones have been really solid, and as a recent, aggressive convert to open-back earphones, I’m excited to see how they sound. They look so beautiful too! Big week for clear gadgets.

Fun fact: Joanna Stern It’s the main reason I got a job The limit first. (That story is long and, if I remember correctly, involves her playing a fairy in a video? But I promised her I wouldn’t tell that story.) These days she’s a columnist at The Wall Street JournalEmmy winner and, most recently, creator of Joannabot, the AI ​​chatbot that will tell you everything you need to know about the iPhone 16. (And apparently it’ll do other things too, if you’re smart enough, but again , we’ll leave it alone.)

I asked Joanna to share her home screen because she just reviewed the iPhone 16, which means she As soon as I had to set up a home screen. And since he’s always using new gadgets and switching from one thing to another, I was curious what always made it to the top of the pile.

Here’s Joanna’s home screen, plus some info on the apps she uses and why:

I’m sending my splash screen AND my Control Center screen because I’m proud of the work I’ve done on the Control Center. I might submit it for a prize. But really, I’d just like to use this as a forum to complain about the all-in-one connectivity widget in iOS 18’s new Control Center. I don’t like it. I like individual buttons, so I can just turn them on and off or long press to access them. Unfortunately they got rid of the single Wi-Fi button, but I read on this great website that it will be returning in iOS 18.1.

The telephone: iPhone 16 Pro Max.

The background: This is my dog’s browser. It’s not his best shot, but the shot is good to put him in the center of the screen. My lock screen wallpaper is this cool retro iPod made by a designer named Shane Levine. I purchased it through this site last year after including it in my newsletter.

The apps: WSJ, ChatGPT, Apple Notes, Google Maps, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Instagram, YouTube, Clock, Discussions, Signal, Photos, Slack, Spotify, Phone, Safari, Messages, Gmail.

My apps are so simple and make me feel so simple. Work (Slack, Gmail). Message I (Messages, Signal). I listen and watch things (YouTube, Spotify). Social media (Threads, Instagram). I work harder (Google Docs, WSJ). If it’s not on the main home screen, I usually just look for it.

Before iOS 18, I had a widget stack on my home screen with weather and time zone widgets, but I moved it to another screen. I might move it back. I might not. I have to live a little.

I also asked Joanna to share some things that interest her right now. Here’s what he shared:

• The devil at his elbow. I’m currently listening to this audiobook by my talented colleague Valerie Bauerlein. It’s about the Murdaugh murders. The writing, the details, everything, is so compelling. I find myself sitting in the garage waiting for a chapter to be finished.
• Full pace. I know I’m late to the popular Netflix series golf-u, but I started playing golf again this summer and I love the stories of these players and how psychological the sport is.
• Bring your pet to school. My 3 year old loves this book. I don’t want to spoil it, but the pets take over Maple View Elementary and, well, Mrs. Ellen is pissed.

Here’s what Installer the community is involved this week. I want to know what you like right now too! E-mail installer@theverge.com or message me on Signal – @davidpierce.11 ​​- with your recommendations for anything and we’ll post some of our favorites here each week. And for even more great advice, check out the answers to this post on Discussions.

“Smooth seas. It’s a match-three (or four!) game but also much more: there’s real strategy required behind your moves to get through the higher levels, but it’s never unfair, and although there are in-app purchases and power-ups that you can purchase to make a level easier, best of all you never need them. It’s the most addictive, mobile-friendly game I’ve ever come across, and it’s a gem I recommend wholeheartedly.” – Jamie

“Gisnep is another daily puzzle game, this time from David Friedman by Sans ironic. It looks like a crossword puzzle-like grid, but the words just cross and wrap around each other. The goal is to reveal both a quote and the source by filling in the letters from the vertical columns. I have already won several of my friends. – Kyle

“Satisfying 1.0 launched about a week ago. A great group of developers have actually made a game that feels like work but is fun. If you love conveyor belts and staying up all night, this might be for you.” – Matt

“I can’t believe you didn’t mention the transition to OmniFocus! As a perennial “task manager changer”, this app is a staple in my rotation.” – Pedro

“I had already recommended it Application in the air as a great travel companion, but unfortunately it is dying out. If you are looking for an alternative, Fickle it’s excellent, especially for travel statistics, and they are building an importer for App in the Air users.” – Viviana

“We’ve been watching English teacher on FX. Continuous laughter and, so far, each episode has been better than the last. Without a doubt one of the funniest shows on TV right now. – Danielle

“I was given the Humanscale FR300 ergonomic foot swingwhich is a very technological sounding name for a very manual/mechanical rocking footrest. It is very pleasant to use. Sometimes I even stayed on top of it… which I’m not sure is safe but definitely fun!” – Wisdom

“Repeatedly placing the Black Milanese loop for the Apple Watch Ultra 2. I was this close to buying it about three times. It is now sold out. Apple also says it’s expected to ship in early November.” – Scott

“I’ve played around with several LLMs using LM study. Integrated into mine Obsidian vault to help summarize and organize things in specific formats. It was extremely beautiful!” – Cody

I’ve been on back-to-back trips for the last couple of weeks and I’d just like to give a quick shout out to my new #1 travel hack. 1: A wall charger that doubles as a big-ass portable battery. I have this Anker modelwhich costs $55, charges one USB-C and one USB-A device at the same time, and even charges itself so you can get 10,000 mAh of power when there’s no outlet nearby. (There is also a newer one with two USB-C ports and even faster charging but with less battery capacity.) It’s huge and heavy, but that and a long cable are now the only charging device I travel with and are the only reason to where my gadgets have survived trains and plane trips. Here at InstallerWe love a sensible charging strategy, and this is as sensible as it gets.