The Hidden Google Feature That Star Trek Fans Need To Know
Google is pretty great at creating Easter eggs for its avid users, and they cater to a variety of interests. As it turns out, one such hidden gem is reserved for fans of "Star Trek," one of the most important science fiction franchises in pop culture history. In the past, Google has honored the iconic TV show — which boasts a massive following that resulted in multiple films, spin-off TV series, video games, books, and comics — through a cute Google Doodle celebrating the anniversary of the show's first broadcast.
The company also reportedly named a project after Majel Barrett, an American actress who played a character in the original "Star Trek" TV series and also voiced the Enterprise ship's computer. If these weren't proof enough of Google's deep love and respect for the show, then you might get a kick out of a seemingly hidden Google Search setting that any "Star Trek" fan will appreciate. Unless you are a power user who methodically combs through Google's preferences and regular updates, there's a big chance you missed this cool tweak.
Pretend you're using the search engine within the Star Trek universe
A deep dive into the search engine's preferences reveals that Klingon — known as the official language spoken by Klingons, a fictitious alien race in the "Star Trek" universe — is listed as an available language option. If you go to the Languages tab of Google Search's settings and expand the list of dialects you can assign across all compatible Google products, you can pick "Klingon," save the change and start enjoying Google in true Trekker fashion. When you launch google.com, you'll be greeted by a few homepage links in written Klingon, mainly "GoogleDaq ylnej" and "jlSuDrup," instead of the usual "Google Search" and "I'm Feeling Lucky" buttons.
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Don't get too excited, though — as far as testing the extent of the translation goes on various Google apps, it seems like that's where it ends. Google Search results still appear in mostly English, even if you type in a search phrase in written Klingon. Other common Google apps like Gmail and Google Maps are also left out of the translation fun.
If you're bummed and feeling shortchanged by this particular Google Easter egg, you can alternatively fire up Google Assistant and try out some hidden, built-in features that also pay homage to the beloved TV series. Activate the app and say popular "Star Trek" quotes like, "Beam me up, Scotty" to hear a familiar sound effect, "Live, long, and prosper" to get similar well-wishes, and "Set phasers to kill" or "Tea, earl grey, hot" to get an appropriate command confirmation (via Reddit). You can also ask it in several ways if it prefers "Star Trek" over "Star Wars" and be gifted with a unique and amusing answer each time.