Happy Chinese New Year! While we may celebrate with lanterns and coins, there are also a few free, family-friendly ways to share the love and embrace the new year! If you’re an Apple aficionado like we are, there’s lots to share from your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Our fav is, of course, the iMessage special effects, just like when you type ‘Congratulations’ or ‘Happy Birthday’. The iOS red envelope and lantern emojis are also high on the list!
- Emojis: Red envelope and red lantern are new emojis in iOS 12 to help you add extra spark to holiday greetings
- Animoji: Send loved ones your well-wishes for Year of the Pig with the pig Animoji
- Siri: You can ask Siri “How do you say Happy Chinese New Year?” in Chinese
- iMessage Special Effects: Trigger a full screen celebration when you send the following idioms to friends and family:
Simplified Chinese
恭喜发财 (congratulations on making a fortune/getting rich)
新春快乐 (happy spring/happy new year)
春节快乐 (happy spring festival)
Traditional Chinese
恭喜發財 (congratulations on making a fortune/getting rich)
春節快樂 (happy spring festival/happy new year)
If you want more control of your iMessage effects, type your message ➡️ long press the blue arrow ➡️ choose the effect you want to add to your message or the entire screen.
If you are more an app fan, you can Celebrate with Canadian-made Chinese New Year apps as well.
Ring in the Lunar New Year with Canadian-made iOS apps featuring limited-edition Chinese New Year games for all ages:
1. Budge World’s new Chinese New Year-themed game Firework Festival lets kids celebrate by helping the Budgers scare away the monster Nian using fireworks that you create by matching shapes and colours. Subcribing also unlocks access to award-winning games including My Little Pony, Thomas & Friends and The Smurfs.
2. Leap On! By NoodleCake is one touch arcade game for all ages where players leap, smash and bounce avoiding shapes and chaos while making their way to the top! A leaping piggy is added to mark the Year of the Pig. Free on the App Store. Launching 01/28. Test Flight available upon.
3. Its Full of Sparks by NoodleCake is a beautiful game based on the life of a firecracker, where players embark on a journey to find The Old One, a mythical firecracker whose fuse has never been lit. For Chinese New Year, players will be a greeted by Big Pig. Free on the App Store. Launching 01/28. Test Flight available.
