By<\/span> <\/span> David Pierce<\/a><\/span>, 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.<\/span><\/span><\/span>
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Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer<\/em> No. 19, your guide to the best and Verge<\/em>-iest stuff in the world. (If you\u2019re new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer<\/em> homepage<\/a>.)\u00a0
It\u2019s the last Installer<\/em> of the year, so we\u2019re going to do something a little different! We\u2019re going to talk about all our favorite things of 2023. Some ground rules \/ disclaimers: this list is not exhaustive, not everything in here is new this year it\u2019s just new to us, this is not an Official List of Every Single Good Thing That Exists, and most importantly, if there\u2019s something missing that you find outrageous and unacceptable you know where to find me: installer@theverge.com<\/a> and (203) 570-8663 on all the messaging apps.
Thanks to everyone who sent stuff in, I discovered so many cool things that are going to inevitably take over my life in 2024. And hopefully you find some stuff here too! I know I say this every week, but it\u2019s always true: the best part of Installer<\/em> is your ideas and tips. What are you into right now? What apps \/ games \/ movies \/ podcasts \/ sacred rituals \/ philosophical musings do you wish everyone liked as much as you? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com<\/a>. (And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer<\/em>, tell them to subscribe here<\/a>.)
Oh, also! The Verge<\/em> has an amazing 2023 in review series<\/strong><\/a> running right now, which you should check out. This was the year of Fitbit and Google, of Matter and the smart home, of Game Pass games and Hulu shows and arthouse movies and a new social web. Don\u2019t miss any of it.
That\u2019s enough preamble, let\u2019s just dive in. My favorite things, and yours, of 2023. Happy Holidays, friends, here we go!
\/ A weekly newsletter by David Pierce designed to tell you everything you need to download, watch, read, listen to, and explore that fits in The Verge\u2019s universe.<\/span>
One reason I love working on Installer <\/em>is that it constantly forces me to try new things. I\u2019m always watching and reading and downloading stuff I wouldn\u2019t otherwise, which is terrible for my Netflix algorithm but otherwise extremely fun.
A lot of that stuff comes and goes \u2014\u00a0some of it is awful, much more of it is fine but sort of transient. Just not sticky for me, you know? But a bunch of stuff this year graduated from \u201cI\u2019ll try it out\u201d to something more. That\u2019s what this list is: in no particular order the stuff I discovered in 2023 that I\u2019m still using, talking about, and recommending today.
Thanks again to everybody who shared their favorite things over the last couple of weeks! I got so many more responses than I could fit here \u2014\u00a0if you want a bunch more recommendations here\u2019s a bunch on Threads<\/a> and a bunch on Mastodon<\/a>.\u00a0
A few names showed up most often, so special shouts to the unofficial top five:
Now for the specific recommendations, from all over the Installerverse:
\u201cI\u2019m currently on month 8 of what was supposed to be a six-month deployment. I have a love-hate relationship with the Wi-Fi that was installed just before we left. With that said, because we have Wi-Fi access (sometimes) the Shonen Jump app<\/strong><\/a> and subscription has been my favorite app. When the ship\u2019s Wi-Fi works, I can download and read offline up to 100 chapters of manga at a time. I\u2019ve used it to relive a bit of my childhood by reading through all 700 chapters of Naruto<\/em> and discover new stories like Demon Slayer<\/em> and One Punch Man<\/em>.\u201d \u2014 Chris
\u201cCitizen Sleeper<\/strong><\/em><\/a> really, REALLY hit the right vibe for me this year. It came out last year, but I had a lot of downtime Jan-April this year, as I was on medical leave and then recovering from an appendectomy. I read all of Murderbot<\/strong><\/em><\/a> (more than once, and the most recent one just came out in November!) and got deep into Citizen Sleeper<\/em> and the ennui and pessimistic optimism (optimistic pessimism?) that both franchises share worked just right for me.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Zoe
\u201cThe Town<\/strong><\/em><\/a> podcast from Matt Belloni. The best source of Hollywood and entertainment news. Excellent guests, every episode is a banger.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Myke
\u201cArc browser<\/strong><\/a> definitely took over all my computers this year. It was pretty impressive to see something take Chrome and Firefox on in a big way.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Wisdom
\u201cI travel A LOT. I\u2019ve been working remotely in Costa Rica for 6 months of the year, and then when I\u2019m back in the States, I\u2019m all over for work and family. This Anker Nebula Capsule projector<\/strong><\/a> has been a GAME CHANGER. You never know when your Airbnb or hotel will have a shitty little TV. This thing makes any wall a giant screen, has a decent built-in speaker, and it\u2019s TINY \u2014\u00a0like can of soda tiny \u2014\u00a0so I don\u2019t even notice it in my carry on. Oh, and built-in apps, no need for an external streaming device or laptop.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Mitch
\u201cMy biggest time investment had nothing to do with tech. It was a physical trading card game called Flesh and Blood<\/strong><\/em><\/a>! So good. Really gets your brain working and is highly addictive.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Thore
\u201cThe Villa<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by Rachel Hawkins is like Almost Famous<\/em> meets a thriller murder mystery. A fantastic book that\u2019s stuck with me most of the year! Also, the show Jury Duty<\/strong><\/em><\/a> is a must-watch for any fan of The Office<\/em> \/ Parks and Rec<\/em>. A truly new take on a modern sitcom or reality show.\u201d \u2014 Tyler
\u201cI\u2019ve been getting tired of Apple Music misorganizing my music collection, so I finally started a Plex Music library to go with my TV and Movie libraries. Turns out they have a great mobile app called Plexamp<\/strong><\/a> that creates awesome radio stations from my library.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Michael
\u201cThe Artifact<\/strong><\/a> app that I actually got from you guys at The Verge<\/em>. It\u2019s such a better scrolling experience from Instagram and I find as it learns who I am it is getting better at recommending stuff to me.\u201d \u2014 Vishal
\u201cMy favorite thing of 2023 has been JustWatch<\/strong><\/a>. The sad demise of Netflix\u2019s DVD business \u2014\u00a0yes I was a subscriber \u2014\u00a0motivated me to find a new place to track the obscure movies I like, and JustWatch is solving the problem. My watchlist filtered by streaming services I subscribe to: \u2018Things I want to watch, available to me right now.\u2019\u201d \u2014\u00a0Ron
\u201cTickTick<\/strong><\/a>. So many random things need to get done daily, from random house work, gentle reminders, to dos\u2026 if I don\u2019t put it in TickTick, chances are that I will forget to do it at all.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Omesh
\u201cMy new years\u2019 resolution was to listen to more albums. To that end, Musicboard<\/strong><\/a> has been a great companion, sorting the stuff I want to hear, allowing me to rate \/ write a few thoughts about them, and also having a community of reviewers. It\u2019s a simple app but it helped me a lot!\u201d \u2014\u00a0Nathann
\u201cBook: Barbarians at the Gate<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. Old book; new to me. Made me better understand seemingly wacky Wall Street things, like why banks helped Elon buy Twitter. It\u2019s probably all about the FOMO and fees. Thing: Garmin Instinct 2X<\/strong><\/a>. I ran my first couple of miles for over 10 years in June. And a little more than 13 miles last week. This watch helped me find my inner runner. Cool look, awesome battery life, and an unexpectedly useful flashlight.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Robert
\u201cSlow Horses<\/strong><\/em><\/a> on Apple TV Plus is excellent. Really enjoyed the games Dead Cells<\/strong><\/em><\/a> and on various platforms.\u201d \u2014\u00a0RoBo
\u201cMy favorite thing of 2023 was Rude Tales Of Magic<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, an RPG podcast that, while older than 2023, had its final episode of its first campaign. Now that it has a beginning, middle, and end, I feel better recommending it to people! It\u2019s hilarious, well-edited, and doesn\u2019t resemble D&D \u2014 in a good way for listeners.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Hunter
\u201c2023 for me was the Year of (Brandon) Sanderson. Remember his record-break-breaking Kickstarter<\/strong><\/a> for four secret novels? Well, this was the year they all got delivered monthly. I have enjoyed opening the swag boxes each month and reading a LOT of his books. I fell in love with his work when I read Mistborn<\/strong><\/em><\/a> a few years ago, but this Kickstarter really kickstarted (heh) a deep dive into his bibliography and it was so worth it. 10\/10 would recommend.\u201d \u2014 Doug
\u201cMUBI<\/strong><\/a> and MUBI GO<\/strong><\/a>! It was Apple\u2019s TV app of the year. Here in the UK, MUBI GO is \u00a318.99 a month to access a streaming platform AND get a free cinema ticket a week (MUBI picks the film \u2014 normally a great pick, last week was Godzilla Minus One<\/em>). It\u2019s my favorite subscription.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Chris
\u201cThis was a year I got back into reading in a real way, and one of my favorite books (and almost definitely my favorite book from this year) was Doppelganger<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, by Naomi Klein. Essential reading IMO!\u201d \u2014\u00a0Jeanne
\u201cThe has been my personal favorite tech thing of 2023. I bought the cheap one and upgraded the internals so it scratched that long dormant itch. I can hook it up to my monitor and use it like a desktop computer which is super useful for\u2026 emulation things. And finally, it feels so good in the hands to play (and it gives me access to my entire Steam library!). It has been a long time since I\u2019ve been this delighted by a device.\u201d\u00a0\u2014 Scott
All right, friends, that\u2019s it for Installer<\/em> in 2023. We\u2019ve got some big plans for next year, and I\u2019m so grateful to everyone who has subscribed, commented, shared recommendations, gotten very mad at me for not including enough Android apps, and reached out to say you\u2019re enjoying Installer. Keep the recommendations and feedback coming, have a wonderful rest of your holidays, and see you in 2024!
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