If you owned a 3DS, then you'll be aware of just how amazing StreetPass was (and still is, if you're truly dedicated).
Having a portable system that could wirelessly communicate with other users while you're out and about was a genuine joy, and to this day, I'm staggered that Nintendo didn't incorporate something similar into its Switch and Switch 2.
There are ways to keep the StreetPass dream alive on 3DS, but if you've picked up a shiny new Android handheld for dual-screen gaming, you might be interested to learn that a successor app is being developed that replicates StreetPass on non-Nintendo hardware.
As noted by Android Authority, ThunderPass draws inspiration from StreetPass and introduces its own features. "Whenever another ThunderPasser is nearby, your phones silently find each other over Bluetooth, shake hands with end-to-end encryption, swap profile cards, and go back to sleep," says the project's GitHub.
"No tapping. No accounts. No internet. Just the same low-key magic — rebuilt from scratch with modern cryptography and a healthy respect for your privacy."
Via ThunderPass, you can exchange profiles with other users, earn badges, and gain Volts, the in-app currency that lets you purchase upgrades.
It's all looking very slick indeed, and the focus on privacy and security is to be applauded – but the catch here is that ThunderPass has been 'vibe coded', which means AI has played a big role in its creation.
To be fair to guilhermelimait, the developer behind the app, they've been very open about this:
"I work full-time. ThunderPass gets whatever hours are left after that — nights, weekends, the occasional lunch break. I do not have the luxury of spending three months polishing a single feature from scratch. So I use AI to write code faster. That is the honest truth.
But here is what AI did not do: AI did not decide that this app should exist. I've tailored each part of it to bring StreetPass back for Android. The name, the yellow lightning bolt, make the LED flash yellow on encounter, or decide that privacy mode should still show your name and avatar to strangers but hide the parts that could be used to track you, every encription method to keep your safety, and of course 100 steps should equal 1 Volt as a nod to the 3DS Play Coin system.
Every one of those choices was mine.
Every screen, every button, every permission, every colour, every behaviour — I thought about it, argued with myself about it, tested it on my own devices, and made a call. The AI wrote the code that implemented those calls. I reviewed every line, caught the bugs, pushed back when something felt wrong, and put my name on the result.
This is not "AI made an app and I uploaded it." This is me building something I genuinely wanted to exist, using every tool available to me — including AI — because time is finite and I refused to let that stop me.
If that bothers you, I understand. If it does not, welcome. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it."
If you're still interested in checking out ThunderPass, you can download the open alpha version here.