Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released on March 20, 2020. A few months later, version 1.5.0 arrived, which, in addition to adding new patches and improvements, introduced NookLink , a very useful add-on that allows us to use our mobile phone as an assistant in the game. NookLink is an unknown app to many, but it offers a ton of options to make our lives easier and even allow us to check game data without having to turn on the console. If you want to know more, you're in the right place, because we'll explain step by step everything this fantastic tool for New Horizons has to offer.
What is Nook Link?
NookLink is an add-on for Animal Crossing: New Horizons that integrates with the Nintendo Switch Online mobile app . The app itself is free, but a monthly or annual Nintendo Switch Online membership is required to use it. It has been available for both iOS and Android smartphones since 2017. Its main function is to allow you to use your mobile phone as a voice chat feature during online games played on the console. In addition, it includes some extra features for certain titles, such as NookLink for New Horizons.
In this case, NookLink is one of the most comprehensive integrated "apps" within the Nintendo Switch Online app currently available. The app simulates the NookPhone that Tom Nook gives us at the start of our island adventure, only this time, we can interact with its apps directly on our smartphone.
How to activate the app
To access NookLink, the first thing you need to do is have an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription and link it to the user you are playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons with.
Once that is done, you will have to activate it by doing the following steps:
- Start the game from the menu of your Nintendo Switch.
- In title screen de Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Press the button (-) of your Joy-Con or Pro controller.
- During the conversation with Tom Nook, be careful and read everything well what it tells you calmly so as not to press anything wrong by mistake. go to option "NookLink Settings".
- Read on and tell him that yes in dialogue for activate NookLink.
How to download Nooklink
NookLink is located within the Nintendo Switch Online app , as we mentioned earlier. You'll need to download the app to your Android or iOS device from their respective app stores (Play Store or App Store).
Once downloaded, you'll need to open the app and log in with your Nintendo credentials. You'll be asked to link your game profile to the app. Once the process is complete, you can access NookLink by tapping the Animal Crossing: New Horizons icon on the Nintendo Switch Online app's home screen on your mobile device.
All your apps
NookLink currently has a total of 9 apps , although several have been added since its launch.
Passport.
"Passport" is the first icon on our NookLink. In this app, we can view much of our game data without needing to turn on our Nintendo Switch.
We'll primarily be able to see our passport information, including the photo we took in the game, our island's name , our birthday , and the date we started the game. We can also check our Creator ID and Dream Number to share with our friends via WhatsApp or social media.
Finally, in this section, we can check our recent dreams and see the residents currently living on our island ; not only the animals, but also any Nintendo Switch users logged into our game. The app will also tell us whether or not we are the island's spokesperson, whether we are a native islander, and the birthdays of all our neighbors, so we don't forget to wish anyone a happy birthday.
Chat
In this second app, we can message our friends more easily than with the Nintendo Switch keyboard. However, if we're playing with people we trust, it makes more sense to leave NookLink and use the voice chat in the Nintendo Switch Online app.
As a fun detail, the text chat doesn't allow the use of emojis . Instead, we'll have to use the emotions from the game itself.
Friends
In this section, you can view your friends list and quickly see if anyone is online without turning on your console. This NookLink app lets you send a broadcast message to all your contacts , send a message to a friend (only if they're online) , and manage your friends —that is, remove them if you no longer like them or even report them to Nintendo if someone has slipped in and is violating community guidelines.
Emotions
It's a kind of "emoji keyboard ." Its purpose is to keep your phone on with this screen open while playing on your friends' islands. This way, you can react quickly, making expressions rapidly, which adds a greater level of immersion to the roleplay . Furthermore, the expressions you use most often will appear at the top of the interface, allowing you to access them even more quickly.
Catalogue
Remember when a game update added the TeleNook app to our character's phone? Well, this NookLink app is exactly the same thing, but on our real-world iPhone or Android device.
Here you'll find all the furniture, clothing, and items you've acquired (or even touched) in your Animal Crossing: New Horizons game. You can view the list alphabetically or search using a specific term. You can also see each item's category, its original price, the price Timmy and Tommy would pay for a used item, and any color variations you've discovered. You'll be notified if the item can be customized and marked as a favorite for quick reference. Finally, you can also go to the "Recent Items" section, which displays the last 20 items you've acquired in the game.
Nook Points
If you log into NookLink every day , you'll earn Nook Points, which can be redeemed for exclusive in-game items . You can also check your gift history.
This application is quite nice, since every day it will show us a famous phrase from a video game character.
island newspaper
The most charming feature of NookLink is this personalized newspaper , which summarizes, in a chronicle-like way, the latest events that have taken place on our paradise island.
We don't know who the gossip is who writes this, but they don't miss a thing. Besides sharing all sorts of juicy tidbits , they'll also publish short notes with seasonal information . The more you play, the more articles, and generally more information, you'll see.
In addition, the price of turnips is displayed at the bottom of the screen, just like in the salmon-colored sections of real newspapers. This saves you from having to check the store twice a day.
Finally, you should know that this newspaper will be automatically deleted if you make a sudden date change on your console . If you're a good player and don't use time cheats, you can also read previous editions of the newspaper in the archives section.
Designs
This is one of the most useful NookLink apps. It lets you add designs to the game without having to enter a code. To use it, simply search online or ask your friends to share their custom designs in QR code format. Once you've done that, you can scan the code using your phone's camera or simply import the image from your gallery.
Using this app, you can also import your designs from Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer for Nintendo 3DS . However, you can only import one image at a time.
After scanning, you'll need to return to the game and take out your NookPhone. Then, go to My Designs and press the minus (-) button on your Nintendo Switch to download the content from the internet. Finally, select the area where you want to overwrite the image and press OK. Once you've done this, you can scan a new QR code using NookLink with your mobile device.
Settings and Notifications.
The last icon is the one that lets you access the settings panel. It allows you to change the island on your NookLink or adjust the language.
Finally, above the apps there's a small letter icon. It's a notification panel that displays the latest news from NookLink.
Where can I find designs for Nooklink?
Undoubtedly, one of the best features of Noolink is the possibility of adding custom designs to the game in a comfortable and fast way. In Animal Crossing you can use the designs in a wide variety of ways, both to create your own clothes and to customize the floor, make paintings or even customize furniture. If you are looking for designs to improve your island, these are the best sites you can find:
Nook's Island
This website has a section called 'Designs' that compiles thousands of designs contributed by users . Currently, the site has over 25.000 different styles. They are divided by style, and you'll find tons of different options. There's also a search function if you have a specific design in mind (although you'll have to search in English). If you want, you can also upload your own creations to this website. To add a design to your game, you just have to enter the code in NookLink.
Web: Nook's Island
nooksguide
This website is similar, but much better structured. We can quickly filter by the design style we want: tops, dresses, hats, and custom designs . Within each category, there are several subcategories—also in English, but you can use Google Translate—so you can quickly find what you need. It's a very well-designed website that also has a lot of other information about Animal Crossing. In addition, it also lets you view Dream Codes and visit islands through dreams.
Web: Nooksguide
Morgan's Patterns Database
It is a Tumblr that also collects a multitude of designs for the game. In this blog each design is published with its code and its application. If you are looking for original designs, this is the website you need to find designs.
Web: Morgan's Patterns Database