Skip to main content

Even celebrities are having a fun time with the Google Arts and Culture app

Google Arts and Culture
Wikipedia
Introduced in 2016, the Google Arts and Culture app has gone viral in recent days, namely because of an update that lets users compare their selfies to famous works of art. Essentially, the app allows users to fulfill a life’s dream they never knew they had by finding their fine-art doppelgänger.

The update may seem a little silly, but the simplicity and ridiculousness of it is why it has taken off. Using the app takes less than a minute; all you have to do is take a selfie. The pairing process isn’t always all that accurate — after all, it has to analyze your face and then scour thousands upon thousands of historical portraits — but that’s one of the best aspects of Google’s budding feature.

Recommended Videos

In fact, these inaccuracies have caused a handful of celebrities to post their results on various social media platforms. Here are some of the best (and worst) pairings we’ve come across in the past week or so. Just a note, at the moment the feature in the app is only available in select regions of the U.S.

Kristen Bell

The Google Arts & Culture app apparently didn’t put Bell in a good place.

Pete Wentz

This google arts and culture app is pretty amazing. Feel real strong about my 40% 😳 pic.twitter.com/2iyexRkUG5

— pw (@petewentz) January 14, 2018

Apparently, Wentz — aka, The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes is Pretty in Punk.

Sarah Silverman

Who among us hasn’t confused a tongue with a carrot?

Busy Phillips

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd4GPYhhfZe/?hl=en&taken-by=busyphilipps

In a past life, Busy Phillips once made the first nonstop flight from New York to Paris in a single-engine plane that she lovingly named the Spirit of St. Louis.

Alyssa Milano

Google is still upset by the fact that Who’s the Boss never truly answered who was the boss.

Kumail Nanjiani

https://twitter.com/kumailn/status/952329304259489793

As Nanjiani astutely points out, the Arts and Culture app can actually do what it’s supposed to do from time to time.

Zach Braff

From a facial feature standpoint, the app nails Braff, which is likely why he is feeling very “#blessed.”

Minnie Driver

Edvard Munch, a renowned Norwegian painter from the 19th century, definitely had Driver in mind when painting The Scream. Let us just say he was ahead of the times.

Ron Funches

https://twitter.com/RonFunches/status/953741756171866112

A great smile equals a fantastic fine-art doppelgänger.

Constance Wu

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd9m2CZFV8l/

Somehow Google was able to channel Wu’s inner persona from a single selfie. Truly amazing technology.

Ananth Pandian
Former Digital Trends Contributor
The Google Home app is getting a long-overdue feature
The Google Home logo on a Pixel phone.

According to the sleuths over at Android Authority, the Google Home app is about to get a much-needed feature that I'm honestly shocked hasn't been added yet: a search bar.

If you've never used the Google Home app before, it's sort of the command center for all things smart home in the Google smart home ecosystem. If you only have a few smart home devices, it's easy enough to navigate — but if you have an extensive smart home setup, you could have upwards of 50 devices listed in the app. If you don't take time to organize and label them, it gets unwieldy fast.

Read more
The Google Wallet app is about to get a lot more useful
The new Google Wallet app running on an Android phone.

The Google Wallet app for Android is getting a new feature called "Everything Else," which will make it easier to add digital passes. This feature was first announced at Google I/O in May and is expected to be available to all Google Wallet customers in the U.S. by the end of the month. It's currently being rolled out to customers.

Everything Else is replacing Google Wallet's "Photo" option. The feature lets you scan a physical card using your phone's camera. Once you do, artificial intelligence determines what type of card you're scanning. When you take a photo of your physical card, Google will extract the information it can, then let you edit standard fields and add your own.

Read more
Google is getting ready to remove lots of Android apps from the Play Store
Samsung Galaxy S23 showing Google Play Store

Starting next month, Google will require apps on the Play Store to provide a "stable, engaging, responsive user experience." If they don't, the company plans to eventually remove those apps from the store.

This policy is part of Google's latest spam policy update and is designed to eliminate apps with "limited functionality and content," such as text-only apps and single wallpaper apps. The new rules take effect on Saturday, August 31.

Read more