Add a Digital Pet to Your IPhone
When it comes to new technologies, big flashy features outshine. The highlight of the iPhone 14 Pro , of course, is Dynamic Island, a camera cutout that actually adapts depending on how you use your iPhone. While Apple touts the island as a center for alerts and background tasks, its true potential may lie in the unique use that third-party developers have come up with. Case in point: you can turn Dynamic Island on your 14 Pro into a home for a Tamagotchi-like pet.
Of course, this is not something that Apple makes available in the settings (although they should). Instead, it’s a feature created by iOS developer Christian Selig , best known for his Reddit client, Apollo and Amplosion , an app for converting AMP links to regular URLs. For this Tamagotchi-inspired feature, Selig placed the cat on top of Dynamic Island, and her only purpose is to run, look cute, and sleep living the dream.
The cat’s name is Hugo, named after Selig’s real-life cat, but that’s not the only animal option for your 14 Pro Tamagochi. You can also choose from “Pixel Pals” Rupert’s dog, Chortley the hedgehog, Finnegan’s fox, and Moti the axolotl from what he calls the Dynamic Island Zoo.
The only (major) downside here is that these digital pets can’t follow you when you’re using your iPhone 14 Pro. Unfortunately, iOS is still iOS, and Selig can’t get Hugo, Finnegan, or Chortley to nap on your Dynamic Island while you’re tweeting, scrolling through TikTok, or texting your friends. Instead, this feature is built into Apollo, meaning that if you’re not currently using Reddit, you have no choice but to start right now.
While Apollo has paid levels, Selig has included the Dynamic Island Zoo for free. If you have the latest version of the app and an iPhone 14 Pro or 14 Pro Max, you’ll find this option in the Apollo app under Settings > General > Pixel Pals .
Other iPhones Can Use Pixel Pals Too
If you don’t have an iPhone 14 Pro, you can still have some fun with Pixel Pals. Selig made Pixel Pals an Apollo widget option for iOS 16 customizable lock screens . If your iPhone supports the latest Apple update and you have the Apollo app installed, you can see your Pixel Pal at any time.
To customize it, press and hold on the lock screen, tap Customize, then select a widget space to open the Add Widgets menu. Tap “Apollo”, then swipe up to “Pixel Pal”. You can add a small or large Pixel Pal widget to your lock screen, which means you can see two, three, or four Pixel Pals on the screen at the same time.
When you place the Pixel Pal widget on your lock screen, it will default to Hugo the cat. To change the animal, tap the widget, then tap Hugo the Cat to change it to one of four other buddies.