Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google has up to date the Android Easter egg as soon as once more in Android 16.
- The Easter egg in Android 16 remains to be the identical spaceship minigame from the earlier two releases, however it now serves as a showcase for the Stay Updates characteristic.
- Stay Updates are a brand new kind of notification which can be prominently displayed within the lock display, AOD, notifications panel, and standing bar.
Replace, March 14, 2025 (11:20 AM ET): Because the Stay Updates characteristic is disabled in Android 16 Beta 3, we initially weren’t capable of showcase the brand new Android 16 Easter egg in full. With a little bit of tinkering, although, we managed to allow the Stay Updates characteristic in Beta 3, and subsequently demo the brand new Easter egg expertise. The article has been up to date accordingly, full with a video showcasing the brand new Easter egg in Android 16.
Yearly, Google sneaks in a enjoyable little Easter egg into its newest Android launch. These Android Easter eggs vary from enjoyable little minigames to instruments that spotlight some functionality of that 12 months’s launch. The brand new Easter egg in Android 16 is each of these issues, an area journey sport that demonstrates how apps could make use of the platform’s new Stay Updates characteristic. Right here’s what the Android 16 Easter egg appears to be like like, the way it works, and how one can entry it your self.
What’s an Android Easter egg?
In the event you aren’t acquainted, an Easter egg is any message, picture, or characteristic that’s hidden from customers. Android’s Easter eggs are not any totally different, besides they’re just about an open secret by this level. That’s as a result of every Android Easter egg is hidden in the identical place yearly, which implies in case you discovered it up to now, you know the way to entry the brand new one already. In the event you don’t know the way to entry the Android Easter egg, we’ll share the steps within the subsequent part.
How do I discover the Android 16 Easter egg?
Discovering the Android 16 Easter egg is easy. All it’s a must to do is comply with these steps:
- Open the Settings app.
- Faucet About telephone.
- Faucet on Android model.
- Faucet the Android model area repeatedly.
- You need to now see the Android 16 emblem floating in house.
- Lastly, press and maintain on the Android 16 emblem till the spaceship sport launches. You need to see the brand begin to vibrate, the dots representing stars within the background flip into streaks, the background shade flip white, and your telephone begin vibrating.
Though the Easter egg is identical for all Android telephones and tablets operating Android 16, the precise location of the “Android model” area could differ for some units.
What the Android 16 Easter egg does
The Android 16 Easter egg would possibly look acquainted, because it’s largely the identical as these from Android 14 and Android 15. The Easter egg in Android 16 is a cute spaceship sport that begins by simulating a take-off of an area vessel. When it launches, you are taking management of a tiny ship because it floats round in house. You will discover a wide range of stars and celestial our bodies as you discover the vastness of house.
That can assist you navigate, the sport shows your ship’s thruster standing, present coordinates, and velocity. It additionally reveals the title of the star that’s closest to you, the category of that star, its radius, its mass, and what number of objects are orbiting it. If you land on a star or a celestial physique, your spaceship vegetation a yellow flag on it. Discovering each celestial physique generally is a nice strategy to move the time, however in case you had been hoping for a win situation, you received’t discover one. The exploration itself is the only supply of leisure.
In the event you don’t get pleasure from manually shifting the spaceship however admire the sport’s aesthetics, you’ll be able to set it as your screensaver. When set as a screensaver, the ship runs on autopilot, routinely navigating to the closest celestial physique. When it lands on one, it vegetation a flag, waits just a few seconds, after which departs for its subsequent goal.
All features of the spaceship sport I’ve described to this point had been current within the Android 15 Easter egg, however Android 16 Beta 3 introduces two adjustments. For starters, it’s now potential to manually have interaction the autopilot system whereas enjoying the sport your self. Merely faucet the brand new “AUTO” button within the backside right-hand nook. Extra importantly, although, the Easter egg now shows a progress-centric notification, which is a key a part of the brand new Stay Updates characteristic in Android 16.
If you begin the sport and return to the house display, the Android Easter egg will put up a notification detailing the ship’s standing. The notification makes use of Android 16’s new progress-centric notification type, which features a progress bar displaying the gap to the closest celestial physique.
Sadly, the Stay Updates characteristic itself is disabled in Android 16 Beta 3. Usually, the Stay Updates characteristic would permit the Easter egg’s notification to be proven prominently within the notifications panel, always-on show, and within the standing bar. With a little bit of tinkering, although, we managed to allow the Stay Updates characteristic in Beta 3 to provide you an early have a look at what the total Android 16 Easter egg shall be like. Right here’s a video demonstrating the brand new Easter egg in Android 16:
The Stay Updates characteristic permits the Easter egg’s notification to be proven prominently within the notifications panel, always-on show, and within the standing bar. Within the standing bar, the Easter egg shows an icon and one phrase that represents the present standing of the ship. The ship is “adrift” when it has no set vacation spot, “en route” when the autopilot is navigating the ship to a celestial physique, and “landed” when it has landed on a celestial physique.
Hopefully, Google will allow the Stay Updates characteristic within the subsequent beta so everybody can check out the brand new Easter egg in full. Some Android telephones could show Stay Updates a bit in another way because of producer customizations, so the video embedded on this article could not completely replicate your personal expertise with the Android 16 Easter egg. Nonetheless, it ought to nonetheless function an indication of the brand new Stay Updates characteristic because it’s carried out in your telephone or pill.
Nonetheless, it’s cool to see the Easter egg in Android 16 make use of one of many working system’s new options, as this wasn’t the case for the Easter egg in Android 14 or 15. I’m certain a few of you had been hoping for a wholly new Easter egg, although, so hopefully Google adjustments issues up in subsequent 12 months’s launch.
