April Fools’ Day 2026: the best and cringiest pranks
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April Fools’ Day 2026: the best and cringiest pranks
Welcome to the worst day on the internet! As Chaim Gartenberg pointed out years ago, brands and a holiday dedicated to hoaxes are rarely a winning combo. If you’re a company with any kind of social media, internet, or AI chatbot presence in 2026, you really, truly only have four options on April Fools’ Day:
- Don’t do an April Fools’ joke. Put the time and energy into doing something productive that will materially benefit the world (or, less idealistically, your business) instead. Or just don’t do anything. Abstaining entirely would still be a net positive over the drain of resources and mental energy.
- Do an April Fools’ “joke,” but actually follow through on your stunt. This is arguably not a prank since you’ve actually created a video game skin or a real product that people can buy — but it doesn’t really hurt anyone.
- Do an April Fools’ joke, but be extremely clear from the start that this is a dumb joke and you have no intention of doing the thing that you are “humorously” pretending to do. Does this defeat the purpose of doing an April Fools’ joke because you’re not “fooling” anyone anymore? Absolutely. (Please see my first two points.)
- Lie to your customers, successfully tricking them into believing you are making some product, rebranding, or service you are not. By doing so, you will almost certainly annoy everyone once your deceit is made plain for the extremely small gain of pointless PR. The aphorism goes that there is no such thing as bad publicity; the seemingly endless line of companies willing to make fools out of themselves has proven this false time and time again.
So far, we’ve seen some socks that even you can’t lose, Snapchat “Reals” took a shot at Instagram’s Xerox machine approach to product development, and the monitor accessory cats want the most.
If you see anything that particularly sticks out for good, bad, or just unusual reasons, send it to us.
- April Fools’ 2026: A smart home controller that knows what you want before you do.
Josh.ai, a company that creates custom smart home automation systems, announced a new accessory called Josh MindControl for April Fools’. The monolithic box (with a dash of RGB underlighting) is capable of “intuiting your intentions” so it can “immediately understand what you would like to do, even if you didn’t fully know yet yourself.”
- April Fools’ 2026: Bass Magazine written by ChatGPT, sponsored by Suno.
It’s no secret that musicians are generally not huge fans of AI. So obviously, a magazine for musicians “brought to you by ChatGPT and Suno” wouldn’t go over well. But Bass Magazine wants to assuage any fears, saying:
“We would never compromise our vision or our mission of bringing you the best bass content in the world for some high dollar sponsor to populate our issues in exchange for cash. That is simply unthinkable.”
The post then ends with that most timeless of internet pranks, the Rickroll.
Four strings, but six fingers. Image: Bass Magazine - April Fools’ 2026: Yahoo’s Scroll Stopper stops doomscrolling.
One way to reduce screen time? The Scrōll Stoppr by Yahoo. Who knows if it actually ships, but these are listed in the TikTok Shop at a price of $4.99 with free shipping for anyone who’s tried every other way to put their phone down.
- April Fools’ 2026: Fortnite now has big head mode.
You can also pick up finger guns, ride llamas, and ride on the shoulders of your friends. This is a rare April Fools’ Day bit that’s actually good, IMO.
- April Fools’ 2026: Capcom’s next big game might have a fun Mega Man crossover.
For April Fools’ Day, Capcom posted a video featuring Pragmata protagonist Hugh in an adult-sized Mega Man outfit. It’s goofy, but the game is only a couple weeks away from release — maybe it will actually be unlockable?
I walked away from a recent demo feeling that the game was pretty Capcom-y, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this Mega Man costume is actually a thing.
Snapchat’s ‘Reals’ joke mocks Instagram’s many ripoffs
Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeIt’s April Fools’ Day, and Snap is using the occasion to “announce” that it’s switching the name of Snapchat’s Spotlight feed, the app’s Instagram Reels-like feed of shortform vertical videos, to “Reals.”
In a video featuring co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel, Snap also includes a description of “Reals” as a place where “real people share real moments. Really.” Spiegel adds that “People feel free to be their full selves and to keep it Real on Snapchat” (In the video’s captions, Snap capitalized “Real”).
Read Article >- April Fools’ 2026: a flippin’ good joke.
Unfair Flips, the coin flipping game that garnered a vibrant speedrunning community, is getting a fun, temporary twist: all flips in the game will now be fair. “For the next 24 hours, YOU can test your TRUE mettle in coin flipping,” developer Heather Flowers says. “No more probability, just pure skill.”
- April Fools’ 2026: Trackable socks.
Satechi’s April Fools’ prank this year solves a problem humanity has faced ever since we started wrapping our feet in fabric tubes: missing socks. The FindAll Socks incorporate small Apple Find My-compatible trackers so you can quickly find one or both when they inevitably go missing.
Image: Satechi - April Fools’ 2026: a cat holder for your monitor.
MSI’s April Fools’ prank aims to solve the problem of your cat plopping itself directly atop your keyboard. It showed off an “MEG Cat Holder” that gives your furry friend their very own RGB bed attached to your monitor. As MSI puts it: “Your cat already acts like they own your setup, now they can complete it!”
1/2 - April Fools’ 2026: Connor Storrie’s big butt dialing problem.
This four-minute Verizon short (there’s also a thirty second version if you can’t wait that long) starring Storrie and directed by Nia DaCosta (Candyman, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple) pays off their appearance at the Vanity Fair Oscar party by raising awareness about the Heated Rivalry star’s mobile phone struggles.
- April Fools’ 2026: Stream Deck Plus Lever.
Because everything is gambling now, Elgato has imagined a slot machine add-on for its handy button and dial-equipped accessory.
While today’s update adding MCP hooks for AI bots to press virtual Steam Deck buttons is more real than the lever, Elgato is releasing this free Slotius plugin today for “purely entertainment” reasons — you can’t win a jackpot, but you can spin the reels.
1/3Image: Elgato - April Fools’ 2026: Who’s that pokémon?
In celebration of April Fools Day, Pokopia is running a small, one-day-only event where pokémon will impersonate each other and ask you to figure out who they’re pretending to be.
Also: you can snag one of those wacky waving inflatable tube thingies that look like a Sudowoodo.
Image: Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, Game Freak, and Omega Force - April Fools’ 2026: A backpack for the Macintosh and a stylish holster for the Newton.
WaterField Designs is celebrating Apple’s 50th anniversary and April Fools’ Day with a couple of new carrying cases for vintage Apple gear.
There’s a backpack for the Macintosh SE/30 made from waxed canvas and leather, and a belt-worn holster for the Apple Newton. They’re both priced at $2,026, and neither is available for purchase.
1/3Image: WaterField Designs - April Fools’ 2026: Pocketpair’s joke that never ends.
The Palworld developer continues to insist that its dating sim spinoff is indeed a real game that you’ll be able to play. There’s even a new video to prove it. And while the game doesn’t have a release date, the studio says it’s coming “soon… we promise.”
- April Fools’ 2026: Mini to Micro.
For April Fools’ Day, The New York Times is sharing a “Micro Crossword,” which has just three boxes to fill in. The NYT is also launching April Fools’ Day-themed versions of other puzzles, too, including a maximalist Connections.
1/4Image: The New York Times
