Google can do more: 8 cool features you’re not using
Google is undoubtedly the most popular search engine on the web, no matter what Yahoo or Bing think. According to statistics, each Internet user Googles an average of three to four times a day, and the service processes 8.5 billion requests in the same time.
Here you can find almost any information: from help choosing a movie for the evening to instructions on how to assemble a nuclear reactor with improvised tools. At the same time, the search engine is packed with a lot of little-known but useful features. Here are some of them.
Timer
If you request a timer, the service will kindly offer a fully functional chronometer as the first item on the list. It supports countdown and stopwatch. The first one is set to 5 minutes by default, but you can edit it. When the time is up, it will beep. If necessary, you can expand it to the full screen, which is very convenient when using the timer for games or similar activities.
Parcel tracking
If you want to find out the delivery status of your parcel as quickly as possible and in one click, and you don’t have an app for the corresponding service at hand, you can use a solution from Google. Just type the word track and the name of the desired email service in Latin. The system works with both global services such as FedEx and the domestic Nova Poshta.
Another way to track your parcel is to simply enter its number directly into the search bar. If it’s a large logistics company, Google will automatically pull data from its website.
Search on a specific site
If you enter “site:” in the search bar, then the URL of a specific site – for example, Sundries.ua – and finally the query you want, all the results on the search page will be from this site only. This is an extremely convenient feature if you need specific information from a particular website, such as certain statistics. Or you just lost the page you were interested in on a particular media resource, and its own search engine is imperfect.
Calculator
As a joke goes, it’s not the search history itself that embarrasses users the most, but the history of calculator queries. If you need to calculate something urgently, type the example in the search bar. You’ll get not only the answer, but also a fairly functional calculator that can even solve trigonometric problems.
Metronome, dice, coins, and other instruments
The metronome that many musicians need will be available directly on the search page. And if you click the “expand” button, you can access other small but useful tools. For example, a dice rolling simulator with four to twenty faces (the exact number of faces can be customized). This also includes a spinner, a coin toss simulator, a virtual microphone tuning tool, and a color matching tool that will provide a universal code.
Random fact
For those who want to fight boredom by improving their erudition, Google has also provided an interesting tool. When entering a fun fact, the user will receive random interesting information from various fields of knowledge, such as the number of Kiss albums sold or data about a city that is simultaneously located in two parts of the world. Unfortunately, this feature does not work in Ukrainian.
Animal sounds
A useful feature for those who play or work with children. Simply enter animal sounds into the search, and the service will carefully pull up a wide range of fauna representatives with colorful illustrations right in the search page.
Pac-Man
Most likely, the audience liked the Pac-Man-themed doodle so much that Google kept it on a permanent basis. When searching for information about a cult game, the search engine will first offer you to play it.
