Hot topics

Android Easter Eggs: The Best Software Surprises Over the Years

NextPit Easter 482882701
© Анастасия Стягайло/Adobe Stock

Google has hidden Easter eggs inside its Android operating systems for many years. Our favorite OS has brought surprises with each of its iterations and we've gathered them here in a retrospective running from Android Gingerbread all the way up to Android 12.

How to activate Android Easter Egg on your phone

It is worth remembering that Easter Eggs on Android can be activated by opening the Settings app and going into About Phone > Android version > and tapping quickly the Android version option (up to 10 times or keep pressing it for a few seconds, depending on the system version). As for the mini-game Easter Eggs, they are activated when you press the version logo for a few seconds.

Android Easter Egg
Activate the Android Easter Egg by quickly tapping (or long-pressing) the "Android version" menu item / © NextPit

Android 13

Without big visual changes, Android 13 even recycled the previous version's Easter Egg. After following the instructions above, turn the clock to 1h (or 13h, or 1 pm, you get it...) and you will get a screen very similar to the one from Android 12 (see below).

However, if you slide your finger or long-press on the screen, the Easter Egg will switch between different emoji showcases. We selected a couple of them in the gallery above. Another feature inherited from Android 12 is the Easter Egg widget, which displays a color palette based on your phone's current wallpaper.

Android 12

Still rolling out to some devices, Android 12's Easter Egg highlights one of the biggest changes in the system, the Material You design language. After being activated, the hidden surprise displays a clock widget. Take the clock to 12h00 (noon/midnight) and the screen will display the version number using colors from the wallpaper or color palette defined by you.

Android 12 Easter egg
The Android 12 Easter Egg also activates a widget that displays a sharable color palette / © NextPit

And it doesn't stop there! After opening the regular Android 12 Easter Egg, you will find a new widget called Android S Easter Egg that displays a big matrix of colors derived from your current phone wallpaper or color palette. Tap on the individual colors to share them, or simply copy them to use on apps that were not adapted to Material You.

Android 11

The hidden Easter Egg game within Android 11 is called "Android Neko". This, however, is not an entirely new game and it has appeared before, back in Android Nougat. Here, you will have to find the so-called "Cat Controls" and feed your kitten. It's almost a contemporary Tamagotchi.

Android 11 Easter Egg
I think I saw a kitten! / © NextPit

Android 10

Android 10 is a milestone in the history of the operating system. It was also the first occasion where Google decided to no longer name the version of Android with the names of popular desserts. However, the good news is that despite this, the tenth version of the OS did not give up the famous Easter Egg.

Google presents a seemingly trivial screen that shows the wording android 10, with the numbers in the foreground. But interactivity is not lacking: you can, in fact, move the numbers and the word android to any point on the screen.

Android 10 Easter Egg
Press the numbers and letters to move the characters around the screen / © NextPit

Android 9.0 Pie

Android 9.0 Pie was released by Google in October 2018 together with the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL smartphones. The easter egg of this version hides something interesting. In addition to displaying the Android Pie logo with hypnotic colors, it is possible to find a fun Microsoft Paint-style drawing program. Just press and hold the "P" button several times to get access to it!

Android 9 Easter Egg
Android Pie Easter Egg / © NextPit

Android 8.0 Oreo

When the first Developer Preview of Android 8.0 was made available, one of the first things we checked for was the presence of an Easter egg. There was, indeed, an Easter egg in the first three Developer Previews of Android Oreo, but it wasn't anything new. It was the same Easter egg as from Android 7.0 Nougat, allowing you to leave food out in an empty dish to attract cats. Now that the fourth preview is out, we find that there's a new Easter egg.

The new Easter egg features a blue screen with a black octopus floating around. The octopus has an (Easter) egg-shaped head, which you can drag around the screen if you want to, and his eight (think Android 8.0) legs will follow. While this isn't the most engaging little feature, it's a nice addition.

Android 8 Easter Egg
Oreo and its weird Easter Egg / © NextPit

Android 7.0 Nougat

Android 7.0 Nougat features an Easter egg where your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to attract cats to eat plates of food you serve up. Yes, it's actually true - we couldn't make this stuff up if we wanted to. You can set this up as follows:

  • Go to the Settings menu.
  • Scroll to About phone.
  • Tap on the Android version until the N appears on the screen.
  • The cat emoji should appear directly underneath the N.
  • When the cat's head appears, this means you've successfully activated the Nougat Easter egg. You're not finished yet, as there are a few more steps to complete:
  • Open your quick settings menu (drag down from the top of your display twice).
  • Tap on Edit.
  • Drag the new icon Empty dish to your notifications bar.

Now you'll be able to attract cats. To do this, tap on Empty dish to select the bait of your choice, and wait. When a cat comes to the dish, you'll be notified. You can even give the cat a name and share it with your friends. The cats will disappear after a while. 

Android 7 Easter Egg
Feed the kitty on the new Android 7.0 Nougat / © NextPit

Android 6.0 Marshmallow

Android 6.0 Marshmallow features another Flappy Bird-inspired mini-game as its Easter egg, only this time, you must navigate through the lollipops to get the marshmallows at the end of them. It's still a frustratingly difficult game; access it by tapping your device's software version until a Marshmallow appears and then long-press it.

Android 6 Easter Egg
Try not to kill your Android in a giant Marshmallow / © NextPit

Android 5.0 Lollipop

For the Android 5.0 Lollipop Easter egg, Google took inspiration from a pop culture phenomenon of the time, which was Flappy Bird. Tapping the software version will produce a flying Bugdroid that you must guide between Lollipop obstacles. It's an infuriating game that plays very similar to Flappy Bird. 

Android 5 Easter Egg
Let the games begin! / © NextPit

Android 4.4 KitKat

Android 4.4 KitKat's Easter egg paid homage to all of the past versions of Android. Go to Settings > About phone and tap the Android version several times. A spinning letter K will appear which you can tap and hold to reveal the KitKat logo. Tap and hold that and a board of colored tiles featuring the logos of past Android versions will be revealed.

Android KitKat Easter Egg
KitKat's Easter Egg was the least creative of all the Android versions / © NextPit

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean

Devices running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will be greeted by a huge smiling red jelly bean in this version's Easter egg. Access it the same way as the others and long press on the giant jelly bean to flood your displays with more beans. Swipe these to fling them in any direction.

Android Jelly Bean Easter Egg
Jelly Beans for everyone! / © NextPit

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

Do you remember Nyan Cat? The pixelated cat who travels to outer space on a rainbow? Well, Android paid tribute to the Internet's favorite feline friend with the Easter egg for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

After tapping on the Android version number several times, a pixelated Bugdroid will appear. When you tap and hold on to this, a Nyan Cat-inspired animation will begin featuring 8-bit Nyandroids shooting up into space. Nice.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich Easter Egg
An ice cream sandwich Android floating through space is what you see in Android version 4.0 / © NextPit

Android 3.0 Honeycomb

Android 3.0 Honeycomb's Easter egg is far less scary than Gingerbread's but it's nonetheless strange. Go through the same steps as mentioned above to activate it, and what you will see is a neon bee. A square box will appear underneath the bee's stinger housing the word 'REZZZZZ'.

In the Tron universe – which the bee appears to be part of – ‘Rezzing’ is the term used for generating a person or object in its game grid. Quite why Google is riffing on Tron, we don't know.

Android Honeycomb Easter Egg
Who said Android couldn't be geeky? / © NextPit

Android 2.3 Gingerbread

The Easter egg found in Android 2.3 Gingerbread is frightening. Featuring a hand-painted picture of a demonic, bow-tie-wearing, yellow-eyed gingerbread man, a disconcerted Bugdroid, and zombies, this first Easter egg is not only unsettling but strikingly different from Google's later attempts. Thankfully.  

To view this – as well as all of the other Easter eggs on our list – go into your device's Settings, choose About phone, and tap on the Android version until the Easter egg appears. 

Android Gingerbread Easter Egg
This Easter Egg is Zombie Art / © NextPit

And you, have you found your Android's little surprise? Which Easter Egg was your favorite so far? Let us know what you think in the poll below.

Which Android version has the best Easter Egg?
View results

This article was updated in April 2023. Old comments have been preserved.

 The best gaming monitors at a glance

  Best gaming monitor up to $400 Best gaming monitor up to $600 Best gaming monitor up to $800 Best gaming monitor up to $1,000 Best gaming monitor for consoles
Model
Image LG Ultragear 27GP850P - product image Asus ROG Strix XG27AQ - product image BenQ MOBIUZ EX3210U - product image Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDM - product image Gigabyte M32U - product image
Offers
nextpit receives a commission for purchases made via the marked links. This has no influence on the editorial content and there are no costs for you. You can find out more about how we make money on our transparency page.
Go to comment (7)
Camila Rinaldi

Camila Rinaldi
Head of Editorial

With over 10 years of reviewing smartphones and wearables, I recently became addicted to smart home gadgets. Even though I dove into the Apple ecosystem two years back, Android remains as one of my passions. Previously editor-in-chief of AndroidPIT and Canaltech in Brazil, I now write for the US market. I love my records and I believe that the best way to get to know a place is through its food.

View all articles
Liked this article? Share now!
Recommended articles
Latest articles
Push notification Next article
7 comments
Write new comment:
All changes will be saved. No drafts are saved when editing
Write new comment:
All changes will be saved. No drafts are saved when editing

  • Simone Costi 21
    Simone Costi Apr 15, 2022 Link to comment

    Am I the only one who thought that Android 11 's easter egg was an amplifier 's volume knob?


  • 2
    Emily Doxon Apr 22, 2021 Link to comment

    All these names just made me hungry :)


  • 7
    Jon Crawford Apr 13, 2020 Link to comment

    With the Android 10 Easter Egg, if you keep tapping "Android" it slowly spins around. If you tap a few times then hold, "Android" will spin around quickly at first, then slow down.. Me thinks some Google Devs have too much time on their hands..


  • marco sarli 39
    marco sarli
    • Admin
    Nov 23, 2019 Link to comment

    I am on 9. Missed some of them in the past. Nice to know


  • 26
    Andrew Burgin Jul 25, 2017 Link to comment

    Floating toolbox from the play store already offers this,i have toolbox pro and toolbox on my S8 plus,and they float anywhere on my screen,you can change the icon size and colour,and chose the applications to chose of the floating application plus also sort them out,its a lot better than scrolling the screens to find the applications,i have play store,speed dial,brightness slider and bluetooth on toolbox pro,and phone,you tube,video and battery doctor on toolbox,i would recommend floating toolbox to any one


  • 1
    Kullia Gyaa Jul 25, 2017 Link to comment

    I earn $79 per hour from the comfort of my home just typing and clicking few buttons on internet and you can withdraw your money anytime. See how you can earn that much too! 79career (.com)


  • 9
    Henry Bellairs Aug 25, 2016 Link to comment

    Never knew you could do this! nice one

    Deactivated AccountDejan Jandric

Write new comment:
All changes will be saved. No drafts are saved when editing