The holidays are almost here, and we’re all filled with cheer (mostly, at least.) While Christmas can sometimes start to feel the same year after year, it’s always fun to celebrate and spend time with family and friends. This year, your iPhone is changing it up a bit with a new Apple Store Easter egg included in the update recently made available via the App Store.
Apple Store Easter Egg
A reddit user originally spotted the inclusion of the Apple Store Easter egg, and it shortly thereafter started to go viral. It’s super easy to find the Easter egg if you’d like to experience it yourself.
Using the latest version of the Apple Store app on an iPhone or iPad, search for the string “let it snow.” It’s as simple as that. The Apple Store Easter egg will soon make its appearance. There’s no added functionality, but your screen will instantly becoming a snowglobe, with specks of snow falling all over the display. It’s a cool distraction and a neat little quirk that was sneakily added in a recent update. Users all over the web are making it snow on their iOS devices as the feature makes its rounds on social media.
Apple seems determined to get users into the Holiday spirit this year — and they’ll be enjoying it themselves, as developers take a break over the next couple of weeks. This fun addition is a feel-good feature that comes on the tail of some rapid practical updates in the Apple world.
After a recent fiasco with the Mac operating system, stemming from a serious security flaw, Apple has quickly rolled out updates on a regular schedule — much more rapidly than they have been coming historically. Perhaps this Easter egg is a little creative touch from an Apple developer burnt out with rolling out patch after patch.
Whatever the circumstances around the inclusion of this Apple Store Easter egg, customers around the world are big fans of the small touch. Who knew that a simple snow effect could generate so much hype. The quiet inclusion that turns your iPhone into a temporary snow globe is a nice way to get into the mood for the upcoming holiday season.
Of course, cynics think the inclusion is part of an advertising scheme to create hype around the newest iPhone. While it’s more likely that the Easter egg is just a harmless bit of fun, it’s true that Apple is a business. We may never know whether turning your phone into a winter wonderland is a fun Christmas present or a smart marketing ploy, but does it really matter? At the end of the day, the holiday season is left just a little bit brighter with the simple search of a sentence on your iPhone or iPad.
