How to celebrate Chinese New Year with iMessage, Siri, and Apple!

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2019 is Year of the Pig and it kicks off on Tuesday, February 5. In celebration, Apple has added a special variant of the iMessage "Celebration" screen effect — complete with lucky red bubble and prosperous gold text! — for Chinese New Year. Siri has also gotten in on the celebration and you can even find some festive wallpaper on apple.com. 新年快乐 indeed!

How to get the iMessage 'Happy Chinese New Year' Celebration effect

To get the Chinese New Year effect, which is a variation of the sparkling firecrackers found in the Celebration effect, simply type "Happy Chinese New Year" or "新年快乐"or "新春快乐" into iMessage and hit the upwards pointing SEND arrow on the right.

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New Chinese New Year appropriate Emoji

iOS 12 has also added a couple of new emoji that are perfect for Chinese new year! The red envelope and the red lantern: 🧧🏮

How to get the Chinese New Year responses from Siri

If you have Siri set to Cantonese or Mandarin — yes, Siri speaks multiple languages! — you can also trigger some Chinese New Year responses. Here are some phrases you can try!

  1. 你打算怎么过春节？(How do you celebrate Chinese New Year?)
  2. 你能陪我过春节吗 (Can you celebrate Chinese New Year with me?)

If you don't speak Cantonese or Mandarin, you can ask Siri to translate for you:

  1. "How do you say Happy Chinese New Year? in Chinese"

There are also some great Chinese New Year apps in the App Store:

  • Fireworks Festival let's kids have fun by helping the Budgers scare away the Nian monster.
  • Leap On is a classic arcade-style game perfect for Year of The Pig.
  • It's Full of Sparks, based on the life of a firecracker, let's you quest to find the never-lit Old One,

Apple Music has your Chinese New Year Playlists

Want a score for your Chinese New Year celebrations? Apple Music has you covered:

iPhone XR in Red or Yellow

iPhone XR in red

iPhone XR in red (Image credit: iMore)

If you want fortune in the Year of the Pig, Apple has a Product Red iPhone XR just for you. If prosperity is your goal, Apple's got you with the yellow and its golden band. Either way, iPhone XR is almost all the best new features in fun new colors and a much more affordable package.

See iPhone XR at Apple

How are you celebrating the Year of the Pig?

Back in my high school years, Chinese New Year meant getting up on stage and doing demos surrounded by lion dancers. These days things are quieter but just as fun. How are you celebrating the Year of the Pig?

VECTOR | Rene Ritchie

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Rene Ritchie
Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.