Have you played Neko Atsume, the Japanese cat collecting game that was a surprise hit before Pokémon Go eliminated all opposition? If so, you’ll be quite at home with the latest Android easter egg, which appears in the final developer beta of Android 7.0 Nougat.
If you tap frantically and repeatedly on the Android version number in Settings > About this phone, you’ll discover an ’empty dish’ in your notification shade. Tap on it, and you can choose to add an alluring food item of your choice to attract cats: Bits, Fish, Chicken or a Treat. When a cat appears to eat the food, you’ll get a cute photo and a chance to name your new visitor. Long press the quick settings icon, and you’ll see a list of all the cats that’ve captured so far.
It’s interesting to see how elaborate these easter eggs are becoming, from the simple graphics of yesteryear to the Flappy Bird clone included in Lollipop and the (simple) game in Nougat. Presumably by Android Walnut Cake we’ll have a full Pokémon Go clone to look forward to.
The latest Android Nougat developer preview build is available now; it should be the last before the final consumer release. If you’d like to install it on your (Nexus) phone or tablet, then check out the Android developer blog post here!
What do you think of the new kitty collecting easter egg? Let us know in the comments below!