Every version of Android since Gingerbread (version 2.3) has included an Easter egg pertaining to its name. It is always found in the same place, under the Android version number in your device’s settings. How you get there varies from device to device, but it’s typically listed under Settings > System > About Phone. Often it’s more simple to just search for “Android Version” in Settings. Once you see the Android version number, tap it repeatedly, and the Easter egg will be revealed.
Diane Hackborn started the Easter egg tradition. She was an Android framework team lead and she was friends with a local artist named Jack Larson. Larson’s specialty was painting portraits of zombies. Hackborn thought it would be fun to hide a painting of his in Android somewhere. Thus the tradition of Easter Eggs was born.
Easter eggs have varied throughout the years. Sometimes they’re simple graphics; other times they’re games or mini-apps that are good for killing time. Since Android Honeycomb, they have all been designed by Google software engineer Dan Sandler.
This list will continue to be updated as new versions of Android come out, with the most recent Easter egg first.
Android 10 (formerly known as Android Q)
Android 10 has two fun Easter eggs in it. As of this writing, the final version of Android 10 has not gone out to the public, but in the Beta 6 build of Android 10 (and only on certain hardware), the Easter egg is a black and grey screen that says “Android 10” in white lettering. You can move the pieces around and spell “Android Q” by using the 1 and 0 to form the same letter Q that Google used in much of its branding. If you tap the screen repeatedly, you’ll be taken to a Picross puzzle which, when completed, displays pixelated Android system controls, such as a volume icon. It is currently unknown how many Picross puzzles are built into the Easter egg.
Android Pie (9.0)
Android Pie’s Easter egg is fairly boring in the grand scheme of things. On some phones, the first and only egg you’ll see is a somewhat psychadelic letter P with rings expanding and contracting around it. You can pinch to zoom in and out, but that’s the extent of the user interaction. On some phones, if you repeatedly tap the animation you’ll get a rudimentary drawing app. There’s not a lot to the drawing app—just a color selector and some rudimentry pressure sensitivity. But it’s fun to play with. This second Easter egg orginally went out only to Pixel phones, but expanded to other hardware, but not all phones.
Android Oreo (8.0)
Android Oreo’s Easter egg has an adorable surprise. After tapping the Android version, you’re presented with an oreo cookie with an Android logo on it. Tapping the cookie does nothing, but if you tap and hold, the scene switches to an ocean setting with a little Android-headed octopus floating and swimming around. You can drag the Octodroid around and watch it float. That’s the extent of the interaction, but it’s super cute!
Android Nougat (7.0)
Android Nougat has arguably the most fun Easter egg of them all. It comes in the form of a game called Android Neko, based on a kitten-collecting game in Japan called Neko Atsume. It is fairly complicated to activate.
First, you have to get to the typical Easter egg screen which was just a stylized letter N. Long tapping the N gives you a little cat emoji below the “N”. Tap that to activate the game. Then, add a Quick Setting called Android Easter Egg to your Quick Settings panel. Tap that new icon to get a selection of food to feed a cat. Tap the desired item.
Eventually, this will attact a virtual cat that you catch and collect. You can rename, share, delete, or collect as many cats as you like. This Easter egg is so popular, it has evolved into a collection of games you can still download from the Play Store today.
Android Marshmallow (6.0)
Android Marshmallow’s Easter egg starts off as a simple Marshmallow with Android antennas. When you long-tap the marshmallow, that’s when the fun starts. Like Lollipop, Android Marshmallow has a “flappy-bird” style game which has you flying (flapping) your way through sticks with marshamallows on the end of them. As a bonus, you can tap the plus symbol at the top of the screen and have up to five of your friends play along on the same screen which is certainly not confusing at all.
Android Lollipop (5.0)
Android Lollipop brings us the first iteration of the “Flappy bird” easter egg, but only after a little digging. The first egg you get is a lollipop graphic with the word “lollipop” printed on it. Tap the lollipop to change the color of the candy. Long-tap the lollipop to open the game. Tap the screen to start and go up, release to go down. Fly in between the lollipops. Good Luck!
Android Kit Kat (4.4)
At the time, Android Kit Kat was Google’s first partnership with a known candy brand. As such, it’s no surprise that one of its Easter eggs reflects that. The first easter egg you get is a simple letter K that spins when you tap it. Long tap and you’ll see an Android Kit Kat logo in the same lettering at the Kit Kat candy. Yet another long tap gives you a little game consisting of different sized tiles bearing logos of previous versions of Android. Tap the tiles and watch them move around the board at random.
Android Jelly Bean (4.1)
Android 4.1 Jelly bean brings one of the cutest Easter eggs to the family. The initial egg is simply a large smiling jelly bean with Android-style antennae. A long tap brings you to a screen full of smaller jelly beans that you can fling around the screen to pass the time.
Further, at the time, Android Jelly Bean was the first Easter egg to incorporate system-wide functionality into the phone. If you long-tap the mini-game you are taken to what was called at the time “Daydream settings”. This is the origin of the screen saver functionality in all forthcoming versions of Android. Later, the Daydream name moved over to Google’s virtual reality headset.
Android Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0)
Android Ice Cream Sandwich’s easter egg shows a simple graphic of a Bugdroid (the green robot logo) combined with an Ice Cream Sandwich. Long-tapping the bug droid causes it to get bigger until it fills the screen. Suddenly the phone is filled with ice cream sandwich bug droids flying across the screen similar to the Nyan Cat meme that was popular at the time.
Android Honeycomb (3.0)
Android Honeycomb is the only version of Android developed exclusively for the tablet, and it brings a fresh look to the large screened devices. That year (actually December of the year before) also saw the release of the movie Tron Legacy, and Android’s easter egg takes on that look - a futuristic mashup of a bug droid and a honey bee. Tapping the bugbee produces a word bubble with the word REZZZZZZZZZ in it. ‘Rezzing’ is a term used in the movie meaning ’to create an object.’
Android Gingerbread (2.3)
Android Gingerbread started it all. This Easter egg painting features a bugdroid standing next to a zombie gingerbread man. The two are surrounded by other zombies all talking on (presumably Android) phones. There are no other user interactions or deeper levels in this Easter egg.
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