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Home / News / Google adds a splash of Star Wars to YouTube, Gmail and more

Google adds a splash of Star Wars to YouTube, Gmail and more

Oh, haven’t you heard? There’s a new Star Wars movie coming out

Even if you live under a rock, you’ll still be aware of the new Star Wars flick coming out soon. In fact, you’d have to actually be a rock, for that news to have flown past you entirely. In which case, we have no idea how you’re reading this.

Google has decided to jump on the hype train by Star Wars-ifying its services with themes and design changes to help you get in the mood for the big day, and it only takes a few button clicks to set it all up. Hit up google.com/starwars, login with your Google account, and you’re sorted.

Once you choose your side (we’re partial to the black and red colour scheme of the dark side ourselves), then various Google service will have subtle changes to constantly remind you that The Force Awakens isn’t out yet.

The volume and progress bars on YouTube will transform into glowing lightsabers, while the Google Maps Street View man will become a Stormtrooper. The navigation icon is also swapped to an X-Wing, which is a nice little touch.

Gmail has a more obvious change with a Star Wars background taking centre stage, while opening up a new tab in Chrome will throw up a full screen wallpaper.

Downloading the Star Wars app on your phone will also automatically push an Android Wear theme to your smartwatch, and several Star Wars events will automatically be added to your calendar.

Nothing groundbreaking or actually useful then, but we’ve enjoyed hunting down the little Star Wars treats nonetheless.

Oh, and don’t worry, there’s only 24 days, 12 hours, 30 minutes and 44 seconds (from the time of writing), before you’ll be sitting in the cinema seat, popcorn in hand, and weeping at the majestic sight of blaster fire before you.

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About

Esat has been a gadget fan ever since his tiny four-year-old brain was captivated by a sound-activated dancing sunflower. From there it was a natural progression to a Sega Mega Drive, a brief obsession with hedgehogs, and a love for all things tech. After 7 years as a writer and deputy editor for Stuff, Esat ventured out into the corporate world, spending three years as Editor of Microsoft's European News Centre. Now a freelance writer, his appetite for shiny gadgets has no bounds. Oh, and like all good human beings, he's very fond of cats.