Google Hooked Your Dog Up "With I'm Feeling Woof"
By Natasha Guzmán
Great news: thanks to Google, you can now go to work or enjoy hanging out with friends without having to worry about your pets' minds melting from boredom as they wait for you to get back home. How? Google now has "I'm Feeling Woof" or "I'm Feeling Meow" settings that allow your buddies to play games, search the web for topics that interest them, and even get trained.
OK — not really. It's an April Fool's joke. But still, it's pretty awesome.
"Wouldn't it be great to keep them occupied when we're not around?" asks the Google commercial for the April Fool's gag as the camera pans to an expectant-looking cat sitting in a suitcase, staring up at its soon-to-be-leaving owner. For most pet parents, the answer is obviously yes. It'd be nice to know that your dog has sometime else to do other than sleep, stare out the window, eat your shows, or bark at the neighbors. Or something that might entertain your cat enough to discourage him/her from plotting your ultimate downfall.
The "I'm Feeling Woof" (or "meow") options on your devices would not only allow your pets to stimulate themselves mentally, but would also lower your guilt for most likely making their existences revolve around being scratched behind the ears and waiting to be taken outside when you're in the mood.
And if you're feeling left out because you own and non-cat or non-dog animal, don't let the names of the settings fool you. Other species — like turtles and chickens, as shown in the video above — can join in the fun.
Both users of iOS and Android devices can access the new settings: iOS users can activate them by either opening up the Google app and tapping the settings section or by using 3D Touch on the app's icon; Android users, on the other hand, are getting a new category of applications called "Google Play for Pets."
Aside from helping out our pets on this April Fool's Day, Google also launched nine other new amazing inventions, including PAC Man Maps, Google Gnome, an array of Chromebook accessories, April Fool's Day advice from Google Assistant, Google Wind, a bubblewrap keyboard, Haptic Helpers, and Google Translate's 32'nd language, Heptapod B, otherwise known as the alien language from Arrival.
Perhaps by next yea,r our dogs, cats, chickens, and turtles will be able to use the rest of these cool new Google inventions, as well.