• The EskomSePush app received an update last week that featured a new user interface.
• Loadshedding blocks are now represented by 30 minute segments and clicking these segments will launch a game of Snake.
• It’s a bit of fun to augment the constant dread loadshedding represents.

To paraphrase pop-punk band Blink 182, loadshedding sucks, we know but thanks to EskomSePush (ESP) it’s a little easier to navigate.

Before the app’s appearance in 2015, South Africans would have to decipher Eskom’s messy and confusing spreadsheets detailing when power would be cut. So, Herman Maritz and Dan Wells created ESP which delivers push notifications about impending power cuts to users. To be clear, as this seems to be a point of confusion, ESP is completely independent from Eskom.

Over time, the app has evolved and now even features its own social network of sorts where communities can highlight problems or connect.

Last week Friday, South Africans may have noticed that the ESP app received an update to its user interface. Opening the app now will showcase which blocks are scheduled for power cuts as 30 minute blocks. It’s a nice visual change but it’s also hiding a secret. That secret is the legendary game Snake, or something akin to it, that used to ship on Nokia cellphones.

Simply head to any area you have saved on the ESP app, open that area and then tap on the visual schedule – which looks like a snake – to launch Snake. Your score is presented in MW and each 1 000 points or Stage will increase the speed of the snake.

To move the snake you simply swipe up, down, left or right but there is a slight delay so it will take some getting used to.

It’s a bit of fun and the little quips that pop up as you collect depleted batteries and power icons put a smile on our faces. If anything it’s a fun Easter Egg that will help to waste a few minutes during your loadshedding block.

As a reminder, Stage 6 loadshedding comes into effect at 16:00.