My favourite Christmas apps
I love this time of year and putting together my own list of only nice Christmas apps and websites, here’s a few of my favourites:
Websites
This site may not be the prettiest site on the web, but the idea is really cute. You can write to Santa Claus and he will respond! Admit to your year of naughtiness and hope that he might forgive you, play trivia games and get in on the countdown to Christmas.
The site is all things Christmas, it covers the festive spirit in abundance. There are games, recipes, music, gifts, and a special kids section and every part of the website Is full of Christmas cheer. If your inner Grinch has come out this year, this site will have you drinking mulled wine singing along in no time at all.
This is hilarious, educational and brilliant. The ever popular site How Stuff Works decided to explain exactly how Christmas works, definitely worth a read.
Apps
Elf Yourself
Guaranteed office ‘bants’ with this Christmas tradition which puts you and your pals’ heads onto singing and dancing elves.
Upload up to five faces and choose from a range of free themes for your elfie.
A Call From Santa!
Input info into the app and it’ll simulate calls and texts with Santa himself for kids.
One parent writes on the App Store: “The face my 5 year old made when Santa said her name and knew she loved to swim was worth a lot more than £1.49.”
This user had paid the extra to get rid of ads but you can also enjoy this for free.
Christmas Countdown 2016
Sign up and receive a daily notification of how many day are left until Christmas.
You also get nice festive tunes to get you in the mood and a saying of the day, such as the above.
Christmas Pics Quiz Game
Free for iOS
From the simple examples above you get the general idea of this classic word puzzle given a festive spin.
They do get harder and you can purchase coins and remove ads by paying a few quid if you wish.
Christmas Piano With Free Songs
Free for iOS
Feel like you can play the piano with this idiot-proof instrument.
It’s packed full of classic Christmas carols and also displays the lyrics so you can enjoy some carol karaoke if you wish.
Manage Christmas
Free for iOS
If you need to stick to a budget, this app is ideal. Set a target and it calculates how much you have left after each purchase you add in.
Also has a section with gift ideas if you’re struggling for inspiration buying for a certain person.
Christmas Gift List (Android: Free)
For a free gifts list manager on Android devices, check out the Christmas Gift List app. Users can set up customized gift lists, creating profiles of people they plan to send presents to, as well as jotting down gift ideas and their budget, complete with personalized notes, images or a link to each gift idea. Once the list is done, you can mark items as “bought” and “wrapped,” and the app will keep track of how many more items need to be bought and wrapped, the amount left in your gifts budget and the number of days left before Christmas.
Giftster (Android, iOS: Free)
Part of the problem with holiday gift-shopping is the worry that the gift is something that your friend or family member might not want, need, or find special. Giftster (Android, iOS) gets around that by serving as a gift ideas registry that you can sign up to with friends and family, allowing each user to create a list of items they’d like or prefer, and which friends and contacts can mark as something they’ve already bought. Users can record things like clothing sizes, rank gift ideas, and set the visibility of particular gift lists, and set up a Secret Santa among particular groups of contacts.
NORAD Tracks Santa (Android, iOS, Windows Phone: Free) – this is my perennial favourite
An annual tradition since an errant marketing ploy directed children calling Santa Claus to a military “red phone” in 1955, NORAD’s Santa tracker is now available as a smartphone app for Android, iOS and Windows Phone. The free Santa Tracker app displays a countdown to Saint Nick’s flight, a variety of Christmas activities and mini-games, short Christmas-themed videos and tongue-in-cheek intelligence articles on Santa Claus and worldwide Christmas traditions.
Elf Adventure Christmas (Android, iOS: Free)
Elf Adventure Christmas (Android, iOS) is a light-hearted and activity filled Advent calendar. Count down the days until Christmas. Each day, a new mini-game unlocks part of the continuing story that sees the Christmas elves try to wake up the Frost Giant in order to bring everyone a white Christmas. This app is great for parents with young kids, offering some bonding and storytelling time.
Christmas Radio (Android, iOS: Free)
Want an app to get your pumped for the big day? Christmas Radio for Android and iOS allows users to tune in to more than 50 unique Christmas-themed Internet radio stations. Choices include everything from Jazz Radio Christmas and Kristmas Kountry to North Pole Radio.