Fun Google Now Tricks

Google Now keeps getting better and better with each and every update. It isn’t just an answer to Apple’s Siri, it’s so much more than that. Google Now is a personal assistant that has access to Google Search at the blink of an eye. Part of it is giving you the right information at just the right time, but that isn’t all Google’s service delivers.

Everything from weather alerts before you start your day or avoiding high traffic areas before you get stuck in a jam. To working in the background and scanning your Gmail (if you let it) to give you Google Now cards with useful flight information, to package delivery and tracking. Personally I love the sports and score alerts, and the relevant Google searches to nearby locations and attractions. The list goes on and on.

Read: How to Use and Manage Google Now Reminders

Google Now integrates search, Google voice actions, and tons of other services to deliver an experience unlike anything else on a mobile device. It’ll even tell you how many miles you walked this month, or while traveling how the weather is or even the time of day back home. It’s extremely powerful and convenient, but it’s also fun and filled with Easter Eggs.

Google Now’s look will change on your birthday to help you celebrate, remind you about upcoming calendar entries or bills you need to pay, or even dinner reservations with a convenient link to instantly get navigation directions or view the email reservation. Like we said, it’s very powerful and learns from you as you use it, but you knew that already.

Being that this is Google, along with tons of neat tricks and features we’ll show you below, there are a wide array of fun Google Now tricks you can try yourself on almost any newer smartphone. Google calls these “Easter Eggs” that are little hidden fun things, and they’ve been doing it for years. Each version of Android has Easter eggs, Google Chrome has plenty, Google Search on the desktop offers multiple, and you can even type “Do the Harlem Shake” in YouTube’s search field on a desktop for some fun.

Over the past few years Google Now has continued to improve and evolve into one of the best, and most important aspects or features of Android. Oh, and it’s also on iOS and we hear many users enjoy it over Siri. Everything we mentioned above is nice, and you can see a list of all Google Now cards here, but below is a quick video showing you a few things you probably didn’t know.

Here we’ll show you a few things you probably never knew Google Now could do on your smartphone or tablet. Some of them are a bit goofy or for the nerds, following internet trends or popular things, but the rest are just neat little tricks and tips that every smartphone owner should know. Take a peek below and enjoy.

Pretty neat right? Surprisingly many smartphone owners don’t even use Google Now, or at least don’t use it to nearly its full potential. I have many friends that didn’t even know this existed, even though they’ve been using Android devices for years. Everything from “Ok Google, Call Mom” to “Send a Text to Amanda, Hey what’s the plan for dinner tonight?” can all be done with Google Now and voice actions.

If you’re wondering what exactly some of my commands were, in case they weren’t extremely clear, here’s a list of some of those fun Google Now tricks and questions. I forgot to ask, “What is the answer to life, the universe, and everything” so feel free to give that a try too.

“Do a barrel roll”
“What’s the loneliest number?”
“Beam me up, Scotty!”
“What does the fox say”
“Make me a sandwich!” try it twice, or start with the word sudo
“When am I?”
“Who are you?”
“How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.”
“What is your favorite color”
“Who’s on second”
“Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right”, and Google will answer: “Cheat mode unlocked, unlimited free Google Searches”
“What is the answer to life, the universe, and everything”

Users with an old Galaxy S3 to even the brand new Galaxy S5 or upcoming LG G3 can all use and enjoy what Google Now has to offer. While it isn’t the same for everyone you just need to long-press home on the Galaxy S3, 4, or 5 to get Google Now to launch, it’s a slide up from the home button on Moto devices or the Nexus series, or just tap the Google widget that usually comes on at least one home screen of every Android smartphone and tablet these days. This will also launch Google Now, and you’re off and rolling.

Heading into settings will allow you to manage and control all the alerts, what’s shown, what can be searched for, and much much more. There’s plenty of control and privacy options, and you can even opt out of Google (and Now) following your location, although that kills some of the benefits of Google Now.

As it stands today Google Now is an essential part of the Android experience, even though millions of users probably rarely use it. The Nexus 5 is slowly bringing Android deeper into Google Now, and we expect other versions of Android to do the same. Android Wear, Google’s new OS for wearable devices will heavily operate similar to Google Now too, so this is only the beginning.

We hope you enjoyed the video above. Now get to searching!