What is the Harry Potter command on Android?

The Harry Potter command is an Easter egg hidden in Android devices that allows users to activate various magic-themed features by using voice commands. Android users who are fans of the Harry Potter books and movies are delighted to find they can mimic spells and other elements from the popular franchise.

This Easter egg lets you turn your Android phone into a magic wand by speaking certain phrases. You can illuminate the LED flash to act as a wand lighting up, play iconic sounds from the movies, and more. It’s a fun way for Harry Potter fans to engage with the Android Assistant in a thematic way.

What Does the Command Do?

The “Lumos” and “Nox” voice commands on Android activate a fun Harry Potter easter egg that turns on or off your phone’s flashlight, simulating the wand lighting spells from the books and movies. By saying “Okay Google, Lumos” into Google Assistant, Android phones will turn on the flashlight, as if you are holding a wand and casting the Lumos spell to emit light from the tip. Saying “Okay Google, Nox” will turn off the flashlight, extinguishing the light as if you had cast the Nox spell.

This voice command pairing offers a delightful way for Harry Potter fans to bring a touch of magic from the wizarding world into their daily life. It’s a clever usage of the built-in Android flashlight functionality by linking it to these iconic light-emitting and light-dimming charms.

Enabling the Easter Egg

The Harry Potter easter egg in Android allows you to cast “spells” using voice commands. To enable it, follow these steps:

Open the Settings app on your Android device.

Scroll down and tap System.
Select Gestures from the list.
Toggle on “Quick Tap” – this activates gesture controls.

Scroll down to the very bottom and tap “Version” 7 times. A message will appear saying “You are now a developer!” indicating the easter egg has been enabled.

Once enabled, you can use voice commands to “cast spells” which trigger fun audio and lighting effects. The easter egg adds a dash of magic to your Android device!

Voice Command Options

There are several fun Harry Potter-themed voice commands you can try with Google Assistant on Android devices. Here are some of the most popular spells and effects they trigger:

“Lumos” – Turns on your phone’s flashlight
“Nox” – Turns your phone’s flashlight off
“Accio” – Plays a sound effect of a magical object flying quickly through the air

“Silencio” – Mutes your device’s volume
“Sonorus” – Restores your device’s volume if it was muted
“Mischief managed” – Plays the Harry Potter theme song

You can try out all of these just by speaking to Google Assistant as if you were casting a spell. It’s a fun way to bring a bit of Harry Potter magic to your Android phone!

Wand Lighting Effects

When the “Lumos” command is spoken, the wand will light up with a bright white LED at the tip to simulate the Wand-Lighting Charm from the Harry Potter books and movies. The LED will pulse and fluctuate, creating an authentic glowing effect. Fans can recreate scenes from the movies where characters explore dark places with the aid of their illuminated wands.

In addition to the white light, the Magic Caster Wand (https://www.harrypottermagiccasterwand.com/) also has multi-color LEDs that can be activated with voice commands. “Lumos red” will change the tip to a rich crimson, “Lumos blue” an icy sapphire, and so on for over 16 million possible color combinations. The colors pulse and transition fluidly, taking the lighting effects to the next level.

When paired with the companion app, the wand gains even more customization options. Users can program their own color palette, choose from preset patterns like rainbow or sunset, and adjust the brightness. Truly dedicated fans can spend hours personalizing the perfect lumos lighting effects for their roleplay and cosplay needs.

Audio Effects

One of the most magical aspects of the Harry Potter commands on Android is the immersive audio effects that play along with certain spells. When you cast a spell like “Lumos” to turn on your phone’s flashlight, the iconic wand lighting sound effect from the Harry Potter films will play. Saying “Nox” to turn the flashlight off will trigger the corresponding extinguishing sound.

Other spells like “Accio” and “Silencio” will also activate sounds straight from the wizarding world. Accio in particular will play the rushing summoning sound as if you’re magically calling an object to you. There’s an undeniable rush when hearing these iconic sounds come from your own Android device.

The developers clearly had a lot of fun incorporating these authentic audio effects into the experience. It shows the incredible attention to detail and desire to make the Harry Potter commands not just functional, but magical. The sounds add so much atmosphere and really complete the illusion of casting spells from the books and movies. It’s a clever example of how small audio touches can greatly enhance an interactive feature.

Other Easter Eggs

In addition to the Harry Potter experience, Android contains other fun easter eggs and hidden features. According to Android Police, Android 10 includes an easter egg that turns the Settings icon into a cartoon Android robot that changes facial expressions when you tap it. Android 9.0 Pie features an octopus that responds to screen taps, while Android 8.0 Oreo has a pixelated cat that chases a mouse pointer around the screen.

Some other memorable Android easter eggs over the years include zombies in Android KitKat, a Tamagotchi-style virtual pet in Android Nougat, and even a collaboration with Disney in Android Marshmallow that let users play a Zootopia-themed game, as noted by Lifewire. These hidden gems showcase Google’s playful side and give users delightful surprises to discover within their devices.

Customization

Users can customize the Harry Potter easter egg in several ways to make the experience more personalized. For example, you can set custom phrases to trigger different spells and effects rather than using the default “Ok Google” activation. To do this, go into your Google Assistant settings and create a custom routine, specifying the custom trigger phrase and linking it to the Lumos or Nox actions. This way you can cast “Lumos” simply by saying “Alohomora” or another spell of your choice.

You can also customize the wand lighting effects by picking different colors other than the default white light. Go into your routine settings and select the option to change the light color, choosing any color you want from the palette. This allows you to make the wand beam red, green, blue, or anything that suits your House pride.

In addition, it’s possible to set custom sound effects to play when casting different spells. Download audio clips like Harry Potter sound effects or music, and upload them to your Google Assistant settings as a custom action sound. Now whenever you cast a spell, your own personalized sound will play instead of the default! With these customizations, you can shape the Harry Potter easter egg to match your preferences.

Device Compatibility

The Harry Potter Easter egg is available on most modern Android devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or later. This includes phones from Samsung, Google Pixel, OnePlus, LG, Motorola, and other major manufacturers. The Easter egg can be accessed through the Google Assistant app on these devices.

More specifically, the Harry Potter commands are supported on devices running the following Android versions:

Android 6.0 Marshmallow

Android 7.0 Nougat
Android 8.0 Oreo
Android 9 Pie

Android 10
Android 11
Android 12

So if your phone runs any of those Android versions and has the Google Assistant, you should be able to try out the Harry Potter commands. Some older devices may not work if they cannot be upgraded to those Android versions.

It’s also worth noting that the Google Assistant app needs to be version 5.0 or higher. So make sure you have the latest Assistant update installed.

The Magic of Easter Eggs

Easter eggs in software provide moments of surprise and delight for users when discovered. They are a fun way for developers to showcase their creativity and add something unexpected to the user experience. As UX designer Kat Zhou discusses in her article for UX Design, “An Easter egg is a purposely well hidden message or feature in a digital or hardware product. The term stems from the tradition of hiding decorative eggs for children to find on Easter morning.”

Easter eggs cultivate a sense of wonder and excitement when users stumble upon them accidentally. They reward exploration and curiosity within an interface. As Zhou notes, Easter eggs also “show that developers have personality” and are “adding something extra to make users’ lives more fun.” By sprinkling secret interactions and surprises into their products, developers create joy and connection with users.

Overall, Easter eggs exemplify how software designers can leverage creativity and humor to delight users. As Grace Jun writes in her Bootcamp article, they “provide users with a surprise and delight factor that enhances their experience.” In a world where functionality often reigns supreme, Easter eggs inject playfulness and humanity into technology.