Smartphones and tablets have generated breakthroughs in the way we go about our daily lives. We write about those a lot around these parts. Finding new ways to pull pranks on people is not one of those breakthroughs. It is, however, extremely fun. Here’s a top 10 list of the best mobile apps to help you unleash your inner trickster. (Apologies for the terrifying-looking clown at the top of the column.)
10. ICON DROPS
I remember people doing this to me in high school, but it’s still fun. With the Icon Prank-Photo Drop app, you can choose a photo to display instead of the homescreen on an iPhone, and all of the icons will drop to the bottom of the screen, in a big jumbled mess. Has Isaac Newton finally caught up with Steve Jobs and Tim Cook? Those icons can’t stay suspended in space forever, can they? Yep, they can…it’s just a prank.
9. I’VE MADE A HUGE MISTAKE.
The Jerky Boys have an app available that lets you call people using some of their semi-famous catchphrases and characters. This is sure to make George Michael Bluth very happy. Did this app make the top 10 list just so I could make an Arrested Development reference? Yes. Yes it did. It’s my list.
8. THE FAKE ALARM
Here’s a simple app. You turn the app on, pick an alarm, and put your phone away, innocently. All of a sudden, alarms start playing. People look outside for a fire. There’s none. Easy and efficient.
7. THE FAKE SNEEZE
Just about the same as number 8 above, but with sneezing instead of alarms. Germaphobia is always funny. I mean, have you seen the trailer for Contagion? This is exploitable. In no way is people running around with a tissue in hand looking for an imaginary sneezer not funny.
6. THE GOVERNMENT’S ON TO US!
Here’s a rather ingenious prank, capitalizing on the paranoia that the government is tracking our every move. With EvilEye, put in the phone number of a person you’re with, and the app will track the phone to exactly where they are. Brilliant, right? Well, no. All the app does is track where the person doing the pranking’s phone is. The person being pranked is standing right next to them, so obviously their phone is in the same place, right? An easy way to fool one of the dimmer lights on the Christmas tree.
5. MAKE PEOPLE GO BUGGY
With JumiFly, you can use your iPhone as a remote control. A fly will appear on a computer you’re near, and you can control where the fly goes on the screen with your phone. The fly can even take a poop on the screen. This can really drive parents, roommates and friends nuts. This might deserve to be higher than #5.
4. FINGER RECOGNITION
Phone Security Pro sets up fingerprint analysis in order to unlock an iPhone. Or not. Users can set the ‘fingerprint’ to deny access to whoever’s putting the finger on the phone. It’ll say ‘access denied!’ to other people that are pressing the screen. But after the app, which can be closed easily, is set to Allow, the person owning the phone can get permission granted by just putting their finger on the screen. Finger recognition for the iPhone; otherwise known as a total hoax.
3. CRACK YOUR SCREEN
Take a friend’s iPhone and download this app. Your buddy will come back, think his phone is broken, and freak out. Maybe he or she will try to fix the screen and break it in doing so. That’s the home run scenario. More likely they just freak out and eventually figure out what happened. Either way: win-win.
2. THE SCARY PRANK
There are dozens of variations of this gem across the app store, and they each serve just about the same purpose: to scare the crap out of someone. Each of these apps start the same way. An innocent-enough looking game is presented to the prank-ee, and they play it for about 30 seconds. Then, mid-game, a super scary looking monster takes over the screen and yells, loudly. The person gets completely freaked out. A classic. This one really is legitimately shocking and scary, though, so if you ’re doing this to someone with a heart condition or stress disorder, maybe think about picking another prank on this list.
These have all been fun ways to prank people, but they’re all set up only to prank someone. Doesn’t that take the originality out of it, just a little? The best pranks sometimes come organically. Therefor, for the #1 slot, I present to you:
1. TV REMOTE APPS
What? This isn’t even a prank! What a rip-off. I want my money back. Well, let me explain why a TV remote app is great for pranking before I start giving everyone their money back for this free column. Download an app that works as a remote for your TV system, like this one for Optimum. If you have multiple TVs with a DVR in your house, you can control any of them by syncing the app to that box, and then you can use your phone as a remote. If a roommate’s watching a show in another room, you can make their cable box go crazy. My preference is to keep changing the volume on the TV. It’s the most subtle, and they’ll just keep thinking that nothing’s wrong until they finally snap. Changing channels at rapid-fire rates is always fun, too. Trust me. People will go insane if it keeps getting done to them. Plus, they’ll have no real way of knowing how it’s happening. This is a great prank, and one that can keep going for a long time.
My personal preference is that the best pranks are the ones that you can do on your own. Having an app to set up a prank and do all the work for it takes out some of the fun of it all. Think of a way to prank someone, make it original, and get to it. There are lots of apps out there to guide you on your way. The world is our oyster, jokesters. Happy pranking.
source:fueled
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