Google Chrome Labs' latest experiment is an Etch-a-Sketch for your browser

Web-a-Skeb

If you miss the days of struggling to draw a simple shape using iron filings with a classic Etch-a-Sketch, you'll love the latest experiment from Google Chrome Labs (a sandbox where the company lets its developers work on their own projects).

As reported by 9to5Google, Web-a-Skeb is an in-browser recreation of the retro kids' toy that invites you to create your own masterpieces by controlling a tiny virtual magnet using a pair of dials. It's just as fiddly as you remember, but nonetheless rewarding when you manage to create something vaguely recognizable.

Shake it off

You can 'shake' Web-a-Skeb to erase your drawings (achieved by pressing a button a few times) and switch between full-screen and windowed modes, but Web-a-Skeb also has a few tricks up its sleeve that weren't in its magnetic predecessor.

There are three different styles: fast (a plain line), fancy (with a drop-shadow), and fanciest (with shifting rainbow colors).

Creator Rowan Merewood says his original aim was to create a dial that could be used to input a range. A future version of Web-a-Skeb might also support input via a keyboard, but for now you'll have to make do with your mouse.

Cat Ellis
Homes Editor

Cat is TechRadar's Homes Editor specializing in kitchen appliances and smart home technology. She's been a tech journalist for 15 years, and is here to help you choose the right devices for your home and do more with them. When not working she's a keen home baker, and makes a pretty mean macaron.