Google is no stranger to hiding amusing little extras in their products, and Chrome is no exception.
Below are a handful of little easter eggs (or, ‘hidden features’ if you’re pedantically inclined) you can find in Chrome or Chrome OS.
There’s no guarantee they’ll stick around forever, so if you’re reading this from the future and one isn’t working, do let us know!
100 Tabs And Still Smiling
The next time you’re bored and can’t think of anything productive to do fire up Chrome on your Android phone or tablet and open up 99 tabs.
Then open one more and watch as the Tab button in the action bar turns from a number to a smiley emoticon.
What’s it all about? It’s apparently included as a small nod to the prowess of Chrome’s memory management. If I was a browser I’d feel pretty smug about handling 100 tabs simultaneously, too.
Chrome Flips Out
This one is exclusive to Chrome for Android: swipe up five times from the tab switcher screen and Chrome will do a slick flip, as shown in this video:
Chrome OS Barrel Roll
Leaving Chrome for Android to one side, there a few nifty tricks specific to Chrome OS devices.
On your Chromebook keyboard press the following keyboard combination to watch the focused window do a fancy-pants cartwheel:
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Refresh
Konami Code Chromebook
Got a Chromebook Pixel? Firstly, I’m jealous. Secondly, you can trigger a neat little show of pulsating colours on the lightbar.
How? Just press the following code on your keyboard:
- up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A.
After that, the light bar will simply start going off, showing you all kinds of colors.
Watch Videos in Chrome Camera App
Did you know that you can watch videos in the Chrome OS Camera app? Sure thing. With the Camera open and in focus, turn on caps lock and type: CRAZYPONY
A file picker will appear. Select any video and it will start playing in the Camera app. You can then play with different effects from the ribbon, and even take screenshots!
Goats Teleported
I don’t quite understand the nerdish humour behind this one: the Chrome Task Manager can display a ‘Goats Teleported’ count should you wish to see…well, should you wish to see how many goats have been teleported by Chrome.
Do you know of other Chrome Easter Eggs? Share them in the comments below.