Google typically offers up some type of fun Easter egg in the developer previews — and final version — of Android. In Developer Preview 4, for example, Google slapped “Namey McNameface” on the Android N logo — a reference to Parsey McParseface, Google’s tool to understand English. Developer Preview 5, however, is offering up something more in tune with the internet.
Cats. That’s right, the Easter egg in Nougat’s Developer Preview 5 is basically a lite version of the popular mobile game Neko Atsume, where the goal is to collect cats. If you want to start collecting your very own set of cats in Nougat, follow these steps below. Keep in mind that you obviously first need to have the latest developer preview installed on your supported device. You can find out more information about Preview 5, and how to download it, here.
Gotta cat-ch ’em all
First, head over to Settings > About phone. Scroll all the way down to the bottom and tap Android version several times. You’ll see the Android N logo, which has been recently updated with Nougat-like pastel colors, pop up.
The next step is to press and hold the large N — you may have to tap the N a few times, but once you press and hold it, a small cat emoji should quickly appear at the bottom of the screen. Check out the images below to see the emoji that’s supposed to appear. If you press the N logo again, you’ll get a no symbol, meaning that the Easter egg has been turned off.
Once you’ve activated the Easter egg, swipe down your notification drawer and tap on Edit. You’ll be taken to the tile edit screen, where you can move tiles or hide them completely. Scroll all the way down and you should see a tile with a cat’s face with question marks under it. It should also blatantly say “Android Easter Egg.” Press and hold it to drag it into your notification drawer.
Go back to your notification drawer, and you should now see a tile titled “Empty dish,” with an image of a plate. Tap it, and you’ll be able to choose between Bits, Fish, Chicken, and Treat, which is basically a doughnut. Whatever you choose will now appear in the tile, replacing the plate. Press and hold it, and you’ll find yourself staring at a blank, grey screen. What now? You wait patiently.
Sooner or later, you’ll get a notification titled “Android Neko,” with the following text: “A cat is here.” You’ll see an image of a cat with a number attributed to it. Tap the notification, or press and hold your tile, to access the cat. It’s kind of like a sticker except you can rename it to whatever you like, and if you press and hold the cat, you can share the image of the cat, or delete it. We tried this out and our first cat was #145 and the second was #434, so it’s unclear exactly how many there are to collect.
We haven’t attracted any other cats yet, so we’re not sure what happens when you continue leaving more treats. We assume you’ll simply keep collecting cats until you catch them all.
This Easter egg is certainly more intricate than previous ones — perhaps Google is jumping on the Pokémon Go craze, but instead of pocket monsters, you’re catching the internet’s favorite animal.
