Apple Marks iPod’s 25th Anniversary With Interactive Apple Music Easter Egg

The virtual player appears when a visitor to music.apple.com adds a path that does not exist, such as music.apple.com/ipod, according to 9to5Mac, which credited Kian on X with finding it. The Verge said the iPod can also be reached by appending a string of random letters after the main Apple Music URL. Engadget reported that the page carries the standard error message and the words “give this a spin instead.”

The recreation includes the original iPod’s click wheel and buttons, which visitors can click or drag to navigate. 9to5Mac said users can browse pre-installed songs and that the scroll wheel works by clicking and dragging. Engadget reported a library of 1,029 playable songs divided into Playlists, Artists, Songs and Settings, but said no included track plays for more than 90 seconds; 9to5Mac described the songs as 90-second previews.

The music is drawn from artists popular in the early 2000s. The Verge cited Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” and Gorillaz’s “Feel Good Inc.,” while Engadget cited Baha Men, blink-182 and Eminem. Engadget, whose reporter was in the UK, said it did not know whether UK acts such as Daniel Bedingfield, The Fratellis and Klaxons would also appear for users browsing in the US.

Engadget, citing Notebook Check, also reported that visitors can play Brick, a Breakout-style game that was a real Easter egg on the first iPod, by holding the center button on the About screen for a few seconds. The publication said the virtual iPod did not appear to require an active Apple Music account. Engadget added that the controls were interactive but slightly buggy in its experience, and it advised trying the page on a phone or tablet because it had trouble getting it to work on desktop.