Google has incorporated a guitar tuner directly into its search page

Google has added a new built-in guitar tuner to its search page. Players who need to find a tuner quickly can now simply enter the term ‘google tuner’ to access the tool.

Android Police reports that the feature was launched on Wednesday and, along with several other gadget sites, issues the caveat that users will experience differing results across devices.

Guitar World has given it a go and can report that, for a freebie, it’s decent. We tested it on an unplugged Strat through an iPhone SE just to see how it would get on with a lower volume and – although we had to hit the strings fairly hard to register – it still produced a solid standard tuning, no problem.

We then compared it against the tuning from a Korg chromatic tuner and TC Electronic’s PolyTune app and found it to be consistent.

There’s a clean, colorful interface and a clear display indicating whether you should ‘tune up’ or ‘tune down’. We also enjoyed the way the little green triangle glows and pulses when you hit the sweet spot.

You can’t tweak any settings, so you can forget about adjusting the calibration – and, as we say, it’s dependent on your device’s hardware – but it’s a welcome addition nonetheless, and we suspect it’s going to get a lot of use from guitarists.

It’s not the first bone the tech giant has thrown to musicians: back in 2018, it launched its own built-in metronome. You can find that linked below the tuner or by searching ‘Google metronome’.