Scream2Wish is a completely 100% useful👀, mildly chaotic Android app that forces you to scream as loud as you can to break a genie's lamp and only then lets you make a wish.
Your wish gets sent to the internet via a Cloudflare Worker → GitHub Actions pipeline and lives forever in a public repo. In return, you get to read a random stranger's note. Whether that's comforting or unsettling is entirely up to you.
Install on Android 10+ devices (sideloading required enable "Install from unknown sources" in settings).
The app opens with an animated permission screen asking for microphone access (to detect your screams) and vibration (to annoy you while you're idle). You cannot proceed without granting both. The back button is "defective."
A suspiciously serious login screen asks for your real name and a password. The name is used throughout the experience. The password has a specific validation rule — figure it out yourself.
- 1 wrong attempt — a video overlay starts playing in the background.
- 4 wrong attempts — a roast panel slides up from the bottom. It picks & shows one messages mocking your inability to read placeholder/input box name text, reveals the correct password with a copy button, After the roast panel appears, the math effect overlay video and sound cut out entirely. Subsequent wrong attempts trigger text-to-speech - a random insult from a pool of eight, delivered in English, no repeat guaranteed.
A countdown from 5. Then the main event.
A genie lamp sits in the center of the screen. A vertical amplitude meter in the top right corner reflects your scream in real time. The louder you scream, the faster the lamp breaks. Stop screaming for even a second and the lamp fully resets to normal. The phone vibrates at you constantly while you're silent encouragement.
- 25% progress — the lamp starts cracking. The genie speaks to you via text-to-speech.
- 55% progress — the lamp is half destroyed.
- 100% progress — the lamp shatters and one of three characters emerges:
| Value | Character | Probability |
|---|---|---|
0 |
 Red Mermaid (yes, from genie lamp😁) |
30% |
1 |
 Genie |
35% |
2 |
 Blue Mermaid |
35% |
The character that emerged from the lamp greets you via text-to-speech and asks you to type your wish. Then it asks you to leave a note for the world. Both steps have a skip option, but after all that screaming, why would you?
The end screen shows two tabs: Random Note (default) and My Note.
Random Note fetches a stranger's message from the public wishes repo — their name, their note, and when they screamed. If the fetch fails, you see the error reason and a retry button.
My Note shows the note you left, plus the live send status. The app automatically retries sending up to 6 times per session (immediate → 3 s → 5 s → 5 s → …). The attempt counter lives in memory and resets on every app open, so you always get 6 fresh auto-retries. If all 6 fail, a Retry send button appears. A 401/403 auth error stops auto-retries for the session (but manual retry still works and auto-retry resumes on next open). Once sent, a green indicator confirms your note is out in the world.
You can share your wish at any point.
Below the notes a creator card shows: a link to the public Scream2Wish website (where all wishes and notes are visible), and a short about section for the creator. The profile picture alternates between a local photo and the GitHub avatar — fetched only once a random note has loaded. The switch animation is a crossfade, and which image appears first is randomised on every app open.
That's it. There is no restart button. The app is done with you.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Android App (Expo) │
│ │
│ Permission Gate → Fake Login → Scream Main → End Screen │
│ │
│ On every open: trySendWish() runs in background │
│ On end screen: fetchAndStoreRandomWish() runs in background │
└──────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘
│ POST (wish + note + name)
│ Header: x-api-key
▼
┌────────────────────────────────┐
│ Cloudflare Worker │
│ scream2wish.rajnishkmehta │
│ .workers.dev │
│ │
│ Validates API key │
│ Forwards repository_dispatch │
│ to GitHub API │
└────────────────┬───────────────┘
│ repository_dispatch event
▼
┌────────────────────────────────┐
│ GitHub Actions │
│ (Scream2Wish-wishes repo) │
│ │
│ wish-handler.yml │
│ Generates a unique ID │
│ Saves wish JSON to repo │
│ Updates index.json │
└────────────────┬───────────────┘
│ committed to main branch
▼
┌────────────────────────────────┐
│ Public JSON Store │
│ /wishes/index.json │ ← array of all IDs
│ /wishes/{id}.json │ ← individual wish
└──────────┬─────────────────────┘
│
┌─────────────┼─────────────┐
│ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼
App reads Website reads Anyone can
random wish all wishes read the raw
on end screen publicly GitHub JSON
You cannot safely embed a GitHub token inside a mobile APK it would be publicly extractable. The Cloudflare Worker holds the GitHub token securely as an environment secret. The app only needs a rotating API key to talk to the Worker, which is far easier to rotate without a new app release.
Yes, an API key inside an APK isn’t fully secure and can be extracted with enough knowledge. But it still adds a useful layer of protection. Without any key, the API would be completely open and anyone could spam it easily. Requiring a key creates a basic barrier that prevents casual misuse and automated abuse. It’s not perfect security, but it’s a practical way to reduce spam and keep things under control.
| Tech | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Expo + React Native | Core framework |
| expo-audio | Real-time microphone metering for scream detection |
| expo-speech | Text-to-speech for the genie / mermaid character |
| expo-video | Punishing video overlay on the login screen |
| expo-router | File-based navigation |
| expo-updates | OTA updates — no store release required for fixes |
| expo-clipboard | Clipboard access for copying the password from the roast panel |
| react-native-mmkv | Fast local key-value storage |
| react-native-reanimated | Smooth animations |
| lucide-react-native | Icons |
| Tech | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Cloudflare Workers | Secure API proxy between app and GitHub |
| GitHub Actions | Wish persistence pipeline |
| GitHub Pages + Vite | Public wishes board website |
| EAS Build | Automated APK builds via GitHub Actions |
| Key | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
name |
string |
User's real name from login. |
ginie |
number |
Character ID: 0 (Red Mermaid), 1 (Genie), 2 (Blue Mermaid). |
isginiereleased |
boolean |
true if lamp was fully broken; gates re-entry logic. |
mywish |
string |
The wish text typed by the user. |
mynote |
string |
The user's personal note (required). |
iscompleted |
boolean |
true if the wish + note flow is finished. |
issent |
boolean |
true if successfully sent to the server. |
rnote |
string |
Random stranger's note fetched from repo. |
rnotefrom |
string |
Name of the stranger who wrote the random note. |
rnoteat |
number |
Unix timestamp (ms) of the stranger's scream. |
Prerequisites: Node.js, pnpm, an Android device (emulators won't work — no real mic metering)
# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/RajnishKMehta/Scream2Wish.git
cd Scream2Wish
# Install dependencies
pnpm install
# Set environment variables
# Create a .env file:
# EXPO_PUBLIC_WISH_WORKER_URL=https://scream2wish.rajnishkmehta.workers.dev
# EXPO_PUBLIC_WISH_WORKER_API=your_api_key_here
# Start Expo dev server
pnpm dlx expo startTo build a standalone APK:
# Requires EAS CLI and an Expo account
eas build --platform android --profile preview| Repo | Description |
|---|---|
| Scream2Wish | This repo: app + worker |
| Scream2Wish-wishes | Public JSON store of all submitted wishes |
The DEV April Fools Challenge 2026 prompt was simple: build something completely useless or silly. Something that makes people ask "why on earth did they build this?"
The answer here is: because it required a scream-detection algorithm, a Cloudflare Worker, a GitHub Actions pipeline, three different characters (two of which are mermaids coming out of a lamp), text-to-speech, real-time vibration feedback, fake login validation, OTA updates, and a public wishes board all in service of letting someone type a wish into their phone.
It is overengineered on purpose. It is useless on purpose. And it absolutely works.
MIT - free to use, fork, or scream at.
