Great iPad Pranks to Pull on Friends
It doesn't need to be April Fool's Day to pull a good prank. In fact, most good pranks don't happen on April 1st, when everyone is expecting a prank. (Okay, people are pretty naive, so it isn't too hard to get them on April Fool's, but a good prankster is ready to prank 356 days a year!). These iPad pranks should give you plenty of ideas, but remember, the point is to have a laugh, not be mean. So stick around and tell them how to put their iPad back once the prank is done. (Unless they really, really deserve it, of course!)
The screen shot prank involves taking a screenshot of the home screen and using it as the wallpaper for the lock screen. This can cause your unsuspecting victim to think the iPad is ready to use, but all in the taps in the world won't open an app until they slide to unlock.
This prank is easier on earlier versions of iOS. The parallax effect in iOS 7 causes pictures used as wallpaper to zoom in, which means you can simply take a screen shot and have it size perfectly when using it as a wallpaper picture. It can still be done by either: (1) not worrying about how the iPad looks zoomed in because it is still a funny prank or (2) using Dropbox or a similar method to upload the screen shot to a computer, add about 200 pixels to each side of the photo (usually done by changing the canvas size), and downloading it again before setting it as the lock screen wallpaper. You can also use an app like InstaSize to do this.
This one is similar to the screenshot background. Start by taking a screenshot of the first page of apps on the home screen. Next, move every app from the first screen to any other page of apps. Then, add the screenshot as the home screen background. Last, delete the screen shot from the Photos app to keep your target from figuring out your prank.
The result is a home screen full of apps that won't launch because they are actually part of the wallpaper. The victim can still launch docked apps and can still move to a different page to launch an app, but even moving to a different page gives the iPad a broken effect when the original apps seem to stay in place.
This one is funnier if you are targeting an IT professional or anyone that knows a bit about computers. The famed 'Blue Screen of Death' is the error screen Windows gives when the operating system crashes. Having the Blue Screen of Death appear on an Apple device may or may not trick someone who knows a thing or two about computers, but at the very least, it should draw a good laugh.
Click the photo for a blue screen that can be sized in iOS 7 so that it doesn't overfill the screen. I like to place it between the time being displayed and the slide to unlock instruction.
The accessibility options in the iPad settings can be a goldmine for a prankster. The ability to invert the colors can make the iPad look all out of whack with no easy way to put it back to normal, and unless your target has really experimented with all the iPad settings, they probably won't figure it out. The funny part is it inverts all colors, not just those in the user interface, so if the go into the Photos app, all of their pictures will have inverted colors.
Make it funnier: Suggest they reboot the iPad because that solves most problems. Of course, rebooting won't do anything, but the process of doing it will make the issue seem even more serious.
You can get to the accessibility options by going into the iPad's settings, choosing "General" and locating "Accessibility" in the general settings.
The accessibility options also have a zoom mode, which is great for those with vision problems and those who want to have a laugh at a friend's expense. After turning zoom mode on in the accessibility options, you can click the home button three times to zoom the iPad in and leave it that way for your friend to find.
This one is more subtle, but it can still be funny. First, make sure the side switch on the iPad is set to Mute and not Lock Rotation. You don't want to make it easy for them to unlock the rotation, after all. You can find this under General settings. Next, use the control panel to lock the orientation of the iPad. You can get to the control panel by swiping up from the very bottom of the screen in iOS 7 or following these instructions on previous versions. The lock rotation button is a lock with an arrow partially circling it.
The locked rotation prank could take some time to expose itself, but you can help it along by suggesting an app and then suggesting it is best if used in landscape orientation after having locked it in portrait (or vice versa).
1. The Screenshot Background
The screen shot prank involves taking a screenshot of the home screen and using it as the wallpaper for the lock screen. This can cause your unsuspecting victim to think the iPad is ready to use, but all in the taps in the world won't open an app until they slide to unlock.
This prank is easier on earlier versions of iOS. The parallax effect in iOS 7 causes pictures used as wallpaper to zoom in, which means you can simply take a screen shot and have it size perfectly when using it as a wallpaper picture. It can still be done by either: (1) not worrying about how the iPad looks zoomed in because it is still a funny prank or (2) using Dropbox or a similar method to upload the screen shot to a computer, add about 200 pixels to each side of the photo (usually done by changing the canvas size), and downloading it again before setting it as the lock screen wallpaper. You can also use an app like InstaSize to do this.
2. The Screenshot Home Screen
This one is similar to the screenshot background. Start by taking a screenshot of the first page of apps on the home screen. Next, move every app from the first screen to any other page of apps. Then, add the screenshot as the home screen background. Last, delete the screen shot from the Photos app to keep your target from figuring out your prank.
The result is a home screen full of apps that won't launch because they are actually part of the wallpaper. The victim can still launch docked apps and can still move to a different page to launch an app, but even moving to a different page gives the iPad a broken effect when the original apps seem to stay in place.
3. The Blue Screen of Death
This one is funnier if you are targeting an IT professional or anyone that knows a bit about computers. The famed 'Blue Screen of Death' is the error screen Windows gives when the operating system crashes. Having the Blue Screen of Death appear on an Apple device may or may not trick someone who knows a thing or two about computers, but at the very least, it should draw a good laugh.
Click the photo for a blue screen that can be sized in iOS 7 so that it doesn't overfill the screen. I like to place it between the time being displayed and the slide to unlock instruction.
4. Invert the Colors
The accessibility options in the iPad settings can be a goldmine for a prankster. The ability to invert the colors can make the iPad look all out of whack with no easy way to put it back to normal, and unless your target has really experimented with all the iPad settings, they probably won't figure it out. The funny part is it inverts all colors, not just those in the user interface, so if the go into the Photos app, all of their pictures will have inverted colors.
Make it funnier: Suggest they reboot the iPad because that solves most problems. Of course, rebooting won't do anything, but the process of doing it will make the issue seem even more serious.
You can get to the accessibility options by going into the iPad's settings, choosing "General" and locating "Accessibility" in the general settings.
5. Put the iPad in Zoom Mode
The accessibility options also have a zoom mode, which is great for those with vision problems and those who want to have a laugh at a friend's expense. After turning zoom mode on in the accessibility options, you can click the home button three times to zoom the iPad in and leave it that way for your friend to find.
6. Lock Rotation
This one is more subtle, but it can still be funny. First, make sure the side switch on the iPad is set to Mute and not Lock Rotation. You don't want to make it easy for them to unlock the rotation, after all. You can find this under General settings. Next, use the control panel to lock the orientation of the iPad. You can get to the control panel by swiping up from the very bottom of the screen in iOS 7 or following these instructions on previous versions. The lock rotation button is a lock with an arrow partially circling it.
The locked rotation prank could take some time to expose itself, but you can help it along by suggesting an app and then suggesting it is best if used in landscape orientation after having locked it in portrait (or vice versa).
