Kid creates every parent’s dream app
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, July 21, 2026
An Oak Harbor 10-year-old may have just invented the app every parent dreams about — and every kid dreads.
After finishing as a top contender in the America’s Favorite Student competition, Jet Lai turned his attention to a different challenge: building an app that won’t let kids get back to their screens until their chores are done.
In about a month, Lai designed a new app called ChoreCheck to make sure kids actually finish their chores before they can get back to their screens.
The idea was sparked by Lai’s former babysitter, who noticed a familiar problem: Lai’s room was always messy.
The app interrupts whatever a child is doing on their device and gives them 10 seconds to head off and complete a chore. Once finished, they snap a photo and artificial intelligence compares it to a parent-approved reference image to determine whether the job was actually done. The new photo can be taken from any angle, and it will still work.
An emergency call bypass is also built in, allowing users to contact parents or 911 if necessary, while notifying parents whenever it’s used.
If everything checks out, the reward is immediate.
“If it’s clean, then it’ll say 30 minutes of free time,” Lai said.
If not, the AI points out what’s still wrong.
Lai admitted he may have been the perfect person to create the app. When asked whether he is a messy kid, his dad, Andrew Lai, quickly answered.
“Big time. He’s gonna be the first person that’s gonna use his own app.”
Jet didn’t argue.
“Um, yeah,” he said.
Unlike many chore apps that reward children with money or allowances, ChoreCheck restores screen time only after the AI confirms the chore is complete.
Andrew Lai believes that’s what makes the concept stand out from other chore apps.
“It’ll provide your kids with a reward for working,” he said.
Instead of earning money to spend later, he said children receive an instant payoff by regaining access to the apps they want to use.
Current chores on the app include vacuuming, feeding a pet, putting away dishes and cleaning a room, while a planned version update will allow parents to create custom chores.
Although the app isn’t publicly available yet, Lai is looking for 12 Whidbey Island Android users to participate in Google’s required beta testing before it can launch on the Google Play Store. Testers will use the app for free for about two weeks while providing feedback that Jet can use to fix any issues before release. To get involved, email Lai at worldofgal@gmail.com.
For now, the biggest hurdle isn’t building the app; it’s surviving life after parents discover it.
Which is awkward, because Lai is the first kid scheduled to test it.
Learn more about ChoreCheck on Lai’s YouTube channel @Jetsfoodadventures.
