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Whether you got a pandemic pet (or two) or you were a pet owner previous to the pandemic, you’ve probably been wondering which famous portrait looks like your pet.
Okay, maybe you haven’t been wondering that. But you can have a ton of fun with a new Pet Portraits feature in Google’s Arts & Culture app that matches your pet with a famous portrait.
Warning => Only check out Pet Portraits when you have plenty of time for all the fun you’re about to have.
About Pet Portraits
Google updated its free Arts & Culture app for Android and iPhone/iPad late last year to include Pet Portraits. This new feature matches a picture of your pet with a famous portrait of a similar animal. According to Google, Pet Portraits works with dogs, cats, fish, birds, reptiles, horses, and rabbits.
You can take a photo of your pet from within the app to match it to a portrait or use a photo you already have on your phone or tablet. And the photo doesn’t have to be of your pet. Any pet photo that’s on your phone can be used with Pet Portraits.
After you choose or take a pet photo, the app will show famous portraits that match your pet. You can learn more about the matching portraits within the app and/or share the matches with others on social media.
You may recall that Google launched Face Match in the Arts & Culture app four years ago. That feature matches your photo to a famous portrait. See => New Google App Shows Which Famous Portrait Looks Like You
Face Match doesn’t work with pets, but Pet Portraits sure does!
How to Use Pet Portraits
Excited to get started with Pet Portraits? Silly question, of course you are!
To start using Pet Portraits, first download the free app:
Next, open the app and tap the Camera icon.
Then tap the Pet Portraits icon.
A new page will open for you to take a pet photo. Tap the Pet Portraits icon again to take a photo of your pet. Or, if you’d prefer to use a previous photo, tap the square icon with mountains.
If you tap the square icon, you’ll see the photos on your phone. Then you can use the search bar to search for “dog” “cat” “bird” “iguana” or whatever pet you want to pair with a portrait. Tap the photo you want to pair.
After you’ve taken or chosen the pet photo, the Google Arts & Culture app will get to work pairing your pet with a portrait. In a few seconds, you’ll be able to see which famous portrait is similar to your pet.
At the top of the screen are two buttons, Still and Slideshow. Still shows you the matched portraits one at a time. Slideshow is, as it sounds, a slideshow of the matched portraits.
Below the Still and Slideshow buttons are circles. The checked circles are for portraits included in the matches. Tap the circles to check and uncheck portraits to include them in or removed them from the set of matches.
Find a favorite match? Tap the portrait to learn more about it. You can see the name of the portrait and the artist as well as where the portrait is currently.
Tap View artwork to see the full portrait.
Below the matched portrait are three icons.
The first is a camera icon for you to retake a photo (or choose a different photo from your phone or tablet). The second icon has a down arrow for you to save the match. The third has an up arrow for you to share the portrait match on social media or via text message or email. Google suggests you use the hashtag #PetPortraits when sharing on the socials.
Not all matches are, well, perfect. Though the mismatches can be just as entertaining as the matches. Let’s just say don’t get your hopes too high if your pet happens to be a peacock…
Your Thoughts
Have you tried Pet Portraits in Google Arts & Culture? Did you like the matches Pet Portraits suggested? Did you find any entertaining mismatches?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
More Google Fun for Wordle Fans
If you’re a Wordle fan and like Google fun, head to google.com and search for “Wordle”. When you see the results page, check out the upper left corner of the screen.
No spoilers, but Google’s Wordle Easter Egg is a tribute to the popular game.
Learn more about Wordle at => Wordle — A New Fun, and Free Word Game
Hi Carolyn,
That’s something new, never knew Google had this pet portraits feature. Also a big fan of Wordle, never miss a day. Did you see that NY Times bought Wordle for a cool 7 digit sum?
Hi Praveen, Yes, this Pet Portraits feature is o new one for Google. It’s a lot of fun to see which pet portraits look like your pet.
I did see that The New York Times bought Wordle. I plan to update my article on Wordle after the game has migrated to The NY Times. I’m glad you’re a fan of Wordle too, it’s so much fun!