Talking Jack-o'-Lantern
Put an old phone in a pumpkin. It hears trick-or-treaters and talks back in character.
- 1Open jack-o.io on an old phone.
- 2Power it up: enter a free key, scan a code from your other phone, or get a Pumpkin Pass.
- 3Press Start and put it in the pumpkin, screen facing out.
Tap for sound.
Set it up
Free option: use your own Google key
Bring a free Google key (or an OpenAI key) and the basic pumpkin is free. The $1.99 unlock adds every voice and color.
Your own key
The pumpkin's voice and wit come from Google (or OpenAI). A "key" is a long code, like a password, that lets your pumpkin use them. Google's is free.
How do I get a key?
- Open Google's free key page and sign in with any Google or Gmail account. Agree to the terms if it asks.
- Tap Create API key.
- Tap the copy button next to the long code.
- Come back here and paste it in the box above.
You can save both a Google and an OpenAI key and switch between them with the buttons above.
Your key stays on this phone. It only goes to Google (or OpenAI). Don't share it with people you don't know.
Unlock everything
One payment of $1.99, yours to keep:
- Any voice for any character. Free characters use their own voice.
- Write your own character. Make it anyone you like.
- Lantern colors. Red, green, purple, ghostly white, or any color you pick.
How the unlock works
- It follows your key, not the phone. Paste your key in step 1 before you buy. Any phone using that key unlocks by itself, including phones you set up with Share my key.
- Changing keys is fine. If an unlocked phone switches to a new key (or from Google to OpenAI), the new key unlocks too. One purchase covers up to 6 keys.
- No account, no sign-in. We never see your key. Only a scrambled fingerprint of it, which can't be turned back into the key, is saved with your payment.
- Payment is handled by Stripe. Your card details never touch this site.
- Refunds: email ddilanchian@gmail.com with your order number from the Stripe receipt.
Pass or key on another phone? Tap Show code there and Scan code here.
Point this camera at the square code on the other phone.
On the old phone, open jack-o.io, tap Scan code, and point it here. This code carries your pass or key, so hide it when you're done.
More options: voices, language, lantern color
Try other voices
Tap a voice to hear it. The one you tap is the one it uses.
ElevenLabs voice 🔒
Give your pumpkin any voice from your ElevenLabs account, even one you designed or cloned. Your ElevenLabs account pays for the voice.
🔒 Included with the Pumpkin Pass. Get a pass to use it.
Where do I find these?
- Sign in at elevenlabs.io.
- Key: open your profile menu, then API Keys, then Create. Allow "Text to Speech". Copy it.
- Voice ID: open Voices, pick a voice, open its menu, and tap Copy voice ID.
While this is on, the voices above aren't used. Your ElevenLabs key stays on this phone.
Match the visitor answers in the language people speak to it. If it switches languages by mistake, pick one language.
The screen glows in this color as it talks.
Phone tips
- Brightness all the way up, auto-brightness off.
- Keep the screen on. iPhone: Settings › Display & Brightness › Auto-Lock › Never, Low Power Mode off. Android: Settings › Display › Screen timeout › longest, battery saver off.
- Volume all the way up, and plug it in.
- To mute: tap the screen or say "Mute on". Say "Mute off" to unmute.
Pumpkin Pass
No key? We handle everything.
About 400 replies, plus every character, voice, and color, and any ElevenLabs voice with your own ElevenLabs key.
Privacy
- When someone talks to the pumpkin, what they say goes to Google (or OpenAI, if you use an OpenAI key) so it can answer.
- This website doesn't record or keep anything. Your key and settings stay on this phone.
- With a free Google key, Google may use what it hears to improve its products.
- If you buy the unlock, Stripe handles the payment. We keep only a scrambled fingerprint of your key with it, so your phones unlock automatically. We can't turn it back into your key.
- The how-it-works video plays from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode).
- If you came here from a Google ad, Google's ad tag notes whether that visit led to a purchase, so we can tell which ads work. It doesn't see what the pumpkin hears.
- If you add an ElevenLabs key, the words the pumpkin says go to ElevenLabs so it can speak them in your voice.
- The site counts anonymous usage, like page views and which options are used, with a random number stored on your phone. No names, no accounts, nothing it hears.
- Put a small "talking pumpkin" sign nearby so people know it's listening.