One of the more fun parts of getting a new version of Android is discovering the hidden Easter Egg that’s tucked way within the “About” menu. Over the years, we’ve seen them get more and more whimsical, with Nougat’s Easter Egg possibly being the most bizarre (and interesting!) one yet: collecting cats.
Basically, Nougat introduces a new, secret Quick Settings tile (since those are now user-customizable) that allows users to put food on a plate, which will lure cartoon cats to your phone. As the cats come, a notification will show up that reads “A cat is here.” The cat will take what’s on the plate, join your collection, and you get to start over and catch another cat.
Beware: collecting these stupid cats is addictive. Here’s how to get started.
First, jump into the Settings menu by pulling the notification shade twice, then tapping the cog icon.
From there, scroll all the way down to the bottom and tap on ‘About
Tap repeatedly on the “Android version” entry, which will launch a new menu with the “N” logo (for Nougat).
Tap on the the N five or six times, then long-press it. This will display a tiny cat emoji at the bottom, and appear to do nothing else. But it does!
Give the notification bar a couple more tugs, to expose the Quick Settings menu. Then tap “Edit.”
In the “Drag to add tiles” menu, there’s a new option with a cat icon and the caption “??? Android Easter Egg”. Long-press this tile, then drag it up to the Quick Settings area.
Back in the Quick Settings menu, the new icon will read “Empty dish”. Give it a tap—a little menu will open with four options: Bits, Fish, Chicken, and Treat. Tap one to add it to the plate.
That’s it—now you wait. After an unspecified (and varying) amount of a time, a notification will show up. If you have an Android Wear watch, it will even vibrate similar to a cat’s purr.
Tapping on the notification will open the new “Cats” menu, where you’ll see the various cats and their numbers. From what I can tell, they start at around 100 and go up to 999, so there appear to be a lot of cats to collect. Better get on that. You can also rename them with a tap.
Lastly, if you ever want to just go admire your cat collection, simply long-press on the cat Quick Settings tile. You can also share or delete any of your cats with a long-press.
Look, I’m not going to pretend that these cats have any value whatsoever, but this is definitely one of the more interesting Android Easter Eggs, at least in my opinion. And for a guy who doesn’t even like cats (come at me, internet), I’m having a weirdly good time collecting them.
