Best Halloween Apps for Android and iPhone (2026)

Still the best place to start if you have no idea what to wear. Search "easy Halloween costume", "couples costume" or "last minute costume" and you get thousands of real photos, often with a list of what to buy.

It is just as useful for the rest of the night: pumpkin carving stencils, makeup tutorials, porch decor, and party food. Save pins to a board and share it with whoever you are dressing up with. Pinterest has also replaced most of the dedicated pumpkin carving apps, which have not been updated in years.

Snapchat has the biggest library of Halloween lenses, and a lot of them are made by its community, so new ones appear every day in October. Skeleton faces, zombie skin, vampire teeth and full horror-movie masks all track your face live.

Open the camera, tap the smiley face next to the shutter, and search "Halloween" or "horror". It is also a quick way to test a makeup look before you commit to the real thing. You do not need to post anything: save the snap to your camera roll and share it anywhere.

If your friends are on Instagram rather than Snapchat, its camera effects do a similar job. Open the Stories or Reels camera, swipe through the effects, and search "Halloween" for face filters and spooky backgrounds.

Reels templates are the other useful bit: pick a trending Halloween template, drop in your costume clips, and the edit and music are done for you. TikTok's effects work much the same way if that is where you post.

Photo Lab turns an ordinary photo into something spooky in one tap. It adds seasonal Halloween effects every October: ghostly frames, zombie faces, haunted-house backgrounds and painted horror-poster styles.

The free version adds a small watermark and shows ads. Pro removes both. On Android, make sure you install the free app from Linerock (the one linked here), not the separate paid "PRO" listing.

Picsart is the pick for party invites, costume collages and group photos. Search "Halloween" in templates or stickers for pumpkins, bats, cobwebs and spooky text you can drop onto any photo.

Its AI tools, like background swap and object removal, are handy for putting your group in front of a haunted house. Many of those need Plus. For a wider look at AI editing apps, see our list of the best AI photo editors.

Nextdoor's Treat Map is back for 2026. Neighbors add their home to the map to show they are handing out candy, and many add notes like "allergy-friendly treats" or "haunted garage".

Open the Nextdoor app and tap the pumpkin icon, or go to nextdoor.com/halloween in a browser. It only works as well as your neighbors' use of it, so check a few days before Halloween once more homes have signed up.

If older kids are trick-or-treating with friends, Life360 shows everyone in your family circle on one map, works across Android and iPhone, and can alert you when they arrive home.

You may not need it. iPhones have Find My built in, and Android phones have Google's Find Hub, both free and able to share a live location with family. Life360 is worth it when your family has a mix of phones and you want arrival alerts without setting anything else up.

Animated night scenes with bats, witches and glowing pumpkins, with five themes to pick from. You can lower the frame rate to save battery, which is worth doing: live wallpapers use more power than still ones.

On iPhone, skip the wallpaper apps (most are thin and ad-heavy). Save a Halloween image from Unsplash or Pinterest, then long-press your lock screen and add it as a new wallpaper. For more Android options, see our best wallpaper apps for Android.

Over 45 instant scares (screams, creaking doors, evil laughs) plus long ambient mixes that keep playing when your screen locks. Hook it up to a Bluetooth speaker by the front door and you have a haunted porch.

It is now on Android as well as iPhone. If you want something more Android-specific with loops and custom mixes, Halloween Soundboard on Google Play is a good backup.

Hold the phone to your forehead, your friends act out or describe the word, tilt to score. It is the easiest party game to set up and it works in costume. Grab the seasonal Halloween or horror movie deck before guests arrive.

On Android it is free to download. On iPhone the base app costs $1.99. Extra decks are in-app purchases on both.

Search "Halloween" in Tasty for mummy hot dogs, graveyard brownies, pumpkin snacks and punch, each with a short step-by-step video. The recipes are simple enough for a kids' party, and you can build a shopping list inside the app.

You wake up locked in Granny's house and have five days to escape. She hears everything, so a dropped item or a creaky floorboard brings her running. Rounds are short, which makes it a good one to pass around at a party.

You are babysitting, and the baby is not a normal baby. It is creepy rather than gory, which makes it a better pick for younger teens than most mobile horror. Over 100 million downloads on Google Play.

The original security-guard nightmare. Watch the cameras, manage your power, and survive until 6 AM while the animatronics creep closer. It is a one-time purchase with no ads, and still one of the most reliable jump scares on a phone.

The full console game on your phone. You guide Six through a creepy underwater vessel full of grotesque, oversized residents. It is more unsettling than scary, with no ads or in-app purchases. A controller makes it much easier.

Also worth a look: Into the Dead 2 (a free zombie runner) and Slayaway Camp: Free to Slay (campy slasher puzzles). Both are still updated and on both stores.