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Apple releases annual ’12 Days of Gifts’ app, available in US for first time

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Apple has just launched its 12 Days of Gifts app, its end-of-year promotion which kicks off annually on December 26, and for the time US-based iDevice owners can see what all the fuss is about.

The Christmas giveaway, which Apple has been running for iOS users in a number of countries since 2008, offers a free gift daily until January 6. You’re given 24 hours to download the freebie, and as you might expect, the material will vary from country to country.

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The app – formerly called 12 Days of Christmas – will offer free games, free apps, free songs, free books, free movies, and free TV shows. You might not like any of them, but at least they won’t cost you anything. Judging by user reviews written in years gone by, many people see what the gift is, curse in disappointment, and then continue about their day.

However, a varied mix of content is guaranteed with the annual promotion, so across the 12 days you should be able to see at least one offering that appeals.

Last year Gameloft’s Shark Dash showed up on the final day, and before that iDevice owners could download a couple of Disney Pixar shorts. Apple’s app also offered Sega’s Sonic Jump, an episode of How I Met Your Mother, and the novel The Red Pole of Macau by Ian Hamilton, among other giveaways.

As we said, if you’re lucky, you’ll find a couple of worthwhile downloads, but don’t build your hopes up.

You can grab Apple’s 64MB 12 Days of Gifts app from the iTunes store here.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
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