Google is, without any doubt at all, one of the most popular search engines in the world. It’s used by billions of people every day and thanks to the changes that the company has made in the past, their search algorithm has gotten better and better.
But did you know that there are heaps of fun Google tricks that you can try if you have some spare time on your hands? We’re looking at a variety of these in today’s article, from hidden Google tricks to Google tricks games.
Use the search bar to look for ‘askew’ and you’ll see that the image with the results slightly tilts. Although it might not seem as entertaining as some of the other tricks we’re showcasing here, it’s still pretty fun.
This is by far one of the most popular tricks on Google. If you merely ask the search engine to ‘do a barrel roll’, that is precisely what will happen. The page rotates twice and then returns to its position.
If you type in ‘Google Gravity’ in the search box and then click the button with the ‘I’m feeling lucky’ message, you will be redirected to one of Google’s projects that goes by the name of Google Gravity. It’s a bit of a Chrome experiment. Although it might look like one of the few simple Google screen tricks out there, it’s actually an interactive type of search.
If you’ve been looking for some Google search game tricks, then Pacman might be a game you might want to try, just for old times’ sake. If you simply type the name of the game in the search box, it will automatically load up. The search engine allows you to play for as long as you want!
Another one of the cool Google tricks you might want to try, especially if you’re a Trekkie, would be to speak (or rather see the search results in) Klingon. You’re probably not going to understand much of what you’re going to see, but there is a Klingon version to Google, and you can definitely have a look at it when you have some spare time.
If you type in ‘Atari breakout’ in the search box, you’ll be directed to Google Images, where all of the pictures will turn into Atari blocks. You can play the block breaker game for as long as you want, which can be pretty fun if you have to wait for the time of an appointment, for example.
Another one of the secret Google tricks you might want to try is Google Translate’s conversation mode. You can speak into your phone microphone, and the app will translate what you’ve said directly into the language you have selected. That can be rather neat for when you are traveling, and you need to ask someone how to get to a certain place.
The Conversation Mode works for translating that person’s reply, too.
If you already use Google Chrome, one of the cool tricks on Google that you should know about is that you can conveniently translate any website right from the browser. Even if you don’t use Google Chrome, you can still translate any website using Google Translate, and all you have to do for that is paste the URL of the site into the app.
Did you know that you can use the app even if you have no access to the internet? It’s not as easy as installing it on your phone, though.
What you have to do is to download the Google Language pack, but you don’t have to download all of it. Just pick the languages you need and add more if you decide to go to a different destination on vacation the next time around.
While it might not be the coolest trick in the world, the truth is that Google Hangouts had this capability for many years, long before it appeared on other apps such as Whatsapp. You can use the same commands that are available in Google Docs or Microsoft Word, such as ctrl+i for Italic, ctrl+b for Bold, and so on.
If you type in /corgis or /corgis party, both you and the person you’re having the conversation with will receive an animation on the bottom of the screen. By the way, Google Hangouts has a number of awesome animal-related tricks. You can even see cute little ponies or a shy dinosaur.
If you seem to be feeling a little nostalgic and you want to have a look at what emojis people used 15-20 years ago, you can do that. You have to use a number of commands, though, and here are some examples: