Wayne Williams explains how to remove constraints from Google’s software, websites, apps and hardware, so you can tweak them to suit your needs
Google has always supported freedom on the web, and has spoken out against those who try to curb those freedoms, but many of its own products and services aren’t as open and unrestricted as they seem (or as we would like them to be). There are good reasons for some of the limits it imposes - Google is a business, after all - but there are ways to get around the restrictions if you know how. In this feature, we reveal the best new ways to hack your favourite Google tools to make them work exactly how you want them to.
We’ll show you how to speed up Android, play music directly from Google Drive, save maps to your phone for offline viewing, watch geographically restricted videos on YouTube, install ‘incompatible’ Android apps, expand your Chromecast’s capabilities and much more.
SEARCH
Remove Google redirects from shared links
Many people don’t realise that Google uses a redirection link to track the pages you click in its search results, which allows it to see where you're going online and the type of content you’re interested in. If you feel this is an invasion of your privacy, and you would prefer that the search giant not track your browsing habits in this way, you can install a browser add-on to remove this redirection, without affecting the way you use Google to find and visit web pages. For Chrome users, there’s Remove Google Redirection (bit.ly/gredirect374), and if you use Firefox, there’s Google Redirects Fixer (bit.ly/redirectfix374). Both will take you straight to your intended destination without Google registering that you’ve clicked that link.
Restore the previews that Google removed
Google used to display thumbnail image previews alongside its search results to help you avoid visiting irrelevant sites. We thought this was a handy feature, but sadly it's one that Google no longer offers. Fortunately, you can get it back by installing SearchPreview for Chrome (bit.ly/searchpreview374) or Firefox (bit.ly/searchfirefox374). Run a search as normal and the site thumbnails will now appear next to the results. Annoyingly, the latest version of SearchPreview also inserts ads into search results, but you can easily disable this by going into the add-on’s Options and deselecting ‘Insert related links’.
DRIVE & DOCS
Move Drive images to Google Photos
The new Google Photos service (photos.google.com) lets you store an unlimited number of images online for free, provided they’re no larger than 16MB in size. In contrast, Google Drive still has a limited storage allowance and any photos you keep in your account will eat into your remaining space. You can get around this by moving all your images from Drive to Photos. In Google Drive, click the Google Photos option in the left-hand menu and choose ‘Add folder to My Drive’, then go into any other folder that contains images. Select multiple photos by holding down Shift as you click, then right-click and select Move To. Choose Google Photos in the list of folders, and click ‘Move’.
Play music directly from Google Drive
Google lets you store songs in Drive, and play some of them directly from your account, but only if they’re in one of the supported formats, such as MP3. DriveTunes (bit.ly/drivetunes374) is an excellent app for Chrome that turns Drive into a music jukebox with flexible controls and the useful ability to queue up and shuffle tracks so you don’t need to keep playing them manually.
Additionally, there’s a new app called CloudPlayer from DoubleTwist (bit.ly/cloudplayer374 - not to be confused with Amazon’s CloudPlayer!) that can stream music directly from Google Drive (and other cloud-storage services) to your Android phone or tablet.
Access Google Drive files offline
You usually need an internet connection to use Google Drive, but if you want to access your files without one, there is a simple solution. If you’re using Chrome, log into Drive (drive.google.com), click Settings and tick the box next to Offline. Unticking the box later will disable the feature. As soon as you reconnect to the web, any edits you’ve made to the files will be synced with the online versions.
Add extra fonts to Google Docs
When you’re creating or editing a document in Google Docs, you only have eight different fonts to play around with, which we find very restrictive when compared to the plethora of fonts available in Microsoft Word. Happily, it only takes a couple of clicks to add hundreds more fonts to Google Docs. Simply click the drop-down font menu in Docs and select ‘More fonts’. You can browse the list, filter the fonts by type (all, display, handwriting, monospace, serif, sans serif), or sort them by popularity, alphabetical, date-added or trending. Click as many fonts as you want to add them to your selection.
YOUTUBE
Stop YouTube playing clips automatically
A recent ‘improvement’ to YouTube means that when it finishes playing the video you’re watching, it picks another from the ‘suggested’ list and starts playing that. We think this is a really annoying feature and at first glance it doesn’t seem as if there’s any obvious way of preventing it from happening. Luckily, there is. To turn off the Autoplay feature, click the blue tick box above the ‘Up Next’ panel. It will turn into a grey slider that lets you disable Autoplay.
Watch geographically restricted videos
Some YouTube videos, most notably music and TV ones, won’t play in the UK because of geographical restrictions. The reason is usually because the content owner doesn’t have the rights to show it outside a certain territory. To get around this, use the new TunnelBear add on for Chrome (bit.ly/tunnelbear374), which we wrote about in last issue’s Best New Browser Tools (bit.ly/webuser373). When you encounter a problem video, just enable TunnelBear and reload the clip. You can only get 250MB of free data per month (there’s a 500MB bonus for verifying your email address), but this should be plenty for streaming the occasional restricted video.
Set YouTube videos to repeat
While YouTube is happy to play video after video from its ‘suggested’ selection, it doesn’t seem possible to show the same one (your new favourite music video, for example, or a funny clip you can’t get enough of) over and over on a loop. You can get around this restriction by using a tool called YouTubeRepeater.com. Just add ‘repeater’ after ‘youtube’ in the URL. To listen to Blur’s ‘Ong Ong’ repeatedly, for example, the address would be www.youtuberepeater.com/watch?v=A0qA38h9w3o. There’s also an option to open the looped video in a mini player that’s separate from your browser, so you can keep watching it while you get on with other things.
Set playback quality to a different default
YouTube automatically sets the default quality of videos based on factors such as the size of the video window, the quality of the original upload, and the speed of your internet connection. You change the quality of videos through the player’s settings, but if you want greater control, install the Chrome add-on Your Quality for YouTube (bit.ly/yourquality374), click the button and choose a new default.
Download videos
YouTube is a streaming-only service, which means the only videos it allows you to download are those you’ve uploaded yourself. You can get around this using an add-on such as Video Downloader Professional for Chrome (bit.ly/vdownloadpro374) and Firefox (bit.ly/vdownloaderff374); a program such as the excellent Icecream Media Converter (icecreamapps.com); or a website like SaveFrom.net (en.savefrom.net).
Skip boring video intros
A Reddit user called Wadsworth once noted that the first 30 per cent of every YouTube video is unnecessary and can be skipped, saving you viewing time. The so-called Wadsworth Constant turns out to be surprisingly true. Google used to let you add &wadsworth=l to the end of any YouTube URL to skip the first 30 per cent but that no longer works. Instead, simply pause the video and hit ‘3’ on your keyboard to jump forward by that amount.
ANDROID & PLAY
Customise your device by rooting it
Rooting your Android phone allows you to install a custom ROM, which replaces the stock Android firmware. This gives you access to extra features and options, lets you overclock it, and more. One of the most popular ROMs is CyanogenMod (www.cyanogenmod.org). We’ll be providing a complete guide to rooting in our Weekend Project section next issue.
Be warned that although rooting your phone is safe - provided you follow the instructions carefully - it will void your warranty so you should think carefully before you root.
Install Android apps 'incompatible' with your device
Android developers, and Google, can decide which devices apps can be installed on. The reasons an app is considered incompatible with your phone may include it having the “wrong” version of the Android OS and regional restrictions. If you root your phone, you can use Market Helper (bit.ly/markethelper374) to install incompatible apps. Alternatively, you can also use APK Downloader (bit.ly/apkdownload374) to download APK files from Google Play to sideload on your device. You need to enter your username and password to use this tool; read the FAQ on the site to see why, and steer clear if you’re not comfortable providing this information.
Make your phone faster than Google allows
Google doesn’t deliberately hobble the speed of your phone but you can make it feel much faster using hidden developer options. Go to Settings, tap 'About phone’ and then tap ‘Build number’ seven times. Go to the main Settings menu and look for ‘Developer options’ near the bottom somewhere. Change the ‘Windows animation scale’, ‘Transition animation scale’ and ‘Animator animation scale’ from lx to 5x, to give your device a boost.
Pretend you're somewhere else
Android doesn’t let you fake your location but you can still do it by going through the Developer options (see the tip above for how to access these). Tap ‘Allow mock locations’ to enable the feature and then install a third-party fake GPS app from Google Play. There are several to choose from.
Hack your device using secret codes
Although Google clearly doesn’t want everyone to know this, Android devices have quite a few secret codes that you can use to do everything from making the power button turn off your phone without displaying the menu, to backing up all your photos and videos. Here are a selection, which you enter using your phone’s keypad. Note that not all codes are guaranteed to work with all phones, and Samsung and HTC devices have their own codes.
*#06#
Displays your phone’s IMEI (International Mobile Station Equipment identity) number
*#*#273283*255*663282*#*#*
Backs up all your photos and videos to the destination of your choice
*#*#7594#*#*
Makes the Power button turn off your device without displaying the menu
*#*#4636#*#*
Displays information about your phone, including battery usage and Wi-Fi
*#*#7780#*#*
Performs a factory reset, so be careful!
*2767*3855#
Wipes the phone completely, so be even more careful!
*#*#1472365#*#*
Tests your GPS
GMAIL
Bypass Gmail's 25MB attachment limit
Want to send a large file to someone (or just yourself) by attaching it to a Gmail message? If it’s over 25MB in size you’re out of luck because that’s the maximum Google will allow. However, you can easily get around this by using Google Drive as an intermediate step - upload the file to Google Drive, compose your email in Gmail then click the ‘Insert files using Drive’ button next to the attachments icon.
If you use Dropbox rather than Drive, you can beat the attachment restriction by installing the new Chrome extension Dropbox for Gmail (bit.ly/chromedropbox374). This also adds an icon to Gmail’s Compose window, so you can send files of any size from your Dropbox account, even if the recipient doesn’t use the storage service.
Access your messages offline
If you’re stuck without an internet connection, you won’t be able to read or respond to all of your messages in Gmail, although you do get some limited offline functionality in the mobile web version and iOS app. Chrome users can also install the Gmail Offline add-on (bit.ly/gmailoffline374), which lets you use the service when not connected to the internet.
MAPS
Save maps to your phone to view offline
Rather than loading an area of a map using your phone’s cellular connection, which takes time and eats into your mobile data allowance, you can ‘cache’ the map while you’re connected to a Wi-Fi connection, and then access it again when you’re offline. Browse to the area of the map you want to save, and type ok maps into the search box. Pan and zoom around to make sure the area you want is covered, and then click the Save button. This trick works on both iPhones and Android devices.
Add new features to Google Maps
Although Google Maps is a brilliant free tool, it lacks some options that would make it even more useful. The Chrome extension Tools for Google Maps on Chrome (bit.ly/maptools374) fixes this by adding a host of features, including a tool for measuring distances, pop-up latitude-longitude coordinates, a screen-capture option, location info from Wikipedia and much more.
CHROME
Install Chrome extensions from any source
Google no longer allows you to install extensions from outside its own web store. However, if you’re prepared to take responsibility for what you install, you can get around this restriction and install extensions from anywhere. First, make sure you have the latest version of the browser installed, then download the third-party extension you want in CRX (Chrome extension) format. Click the Settings button and select More Tools, Extensions, then tick the ‘Developer mode’ option. Drag and drop the CRX file onto the Extensions page and confirm installation.
Use Chrome extensions in Opera (and vice versa)
Chrome and Opera share the same browser engine, which means you can install Chrome extensions in Opera, and Opera extensions in Chrome. To install Chrome extensions from Google’s Web Store in Opera, you’ll need to grab the Download Chrome Extension (bit.ly/downchromeex374). To install Opera extensions in Chrome, find the extension you want, right-click ‘Add to Opera’ and choose ‘Save link as...’. Change the extension of the saved file from ‘.nex’ to ‘.crx’ (some will already be in CRX format). In Chrome, type chrome: // extensions in the address bar and press Enter. Drag and drop the renamed extension onto your Chrome browser window and click Add to install the add-on.
HACK GOOGLE HARDWARE
Watch local videos
Chromecast doesn’t let you stream videos stored on your PC, smartphone or tablet to your TV, but you can get around this restriction by using Plex (plex.tv) or Videostream (bit.ly/vidstream374), which both offer extensions for Chrome, and apps for Android and iOS.
Improve Chromecast playback
If you’ve noticed some juddering when streaming videos from your PC to your TV via the Chromecast, open your Chrome browser and click the Cast button. From the menu that appears, select Tab projection quality’, which can be found under Options, and switch from High or Extreme to Standard. This reduces video quality, but should make playback smoother.
Run Chrome apps offline
Chrome OS is designed to be used when you’re online, but there are plenty of apps you can use without an active connection. Just browse the selection of offline-enabled apps at bit.ly/offlineapps374.
Run Android apps on Chrome OS
Some Android apps can already run on Chrome OS, and more are coming. To run any Android app on the browser-based operating system, install ARC Welder (bit.ly/arcwelder374) on Chrome OS, and then get the APK file for the app you want. These can be tricky to find, but try www.androidapksfree.com or downloader-apk.com, or use APK Downloader (bit.ly/apkdownload374) to download the files from Google Play.