The holidays are upon us, and whether you’re donning a Christmas jumper and singing carols or just playing up Santa’s visit for your kids, we’ve got a bunch of Christmas apps to get you in the right spirit.
Going to a holiday party and need help? Follow our guide on 13 white elephant gifts, and if you’re still not sure about what to get for your family and loved ones, we have some last-minute Christmas gift ideas that will help you out this holiday season.
Christmas Booth: Photo Fun
With this app, you can take a picture or just grab it from your camera roll and choose from a host of Christmas-themed stickers to turn anyone into a Christmas character. You can also send your photo via email, Twitter, or Facebook. It’s compatible with iMessage, too, so you can use the stickers there and message your friends.
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A Charlie Brown Christmas ($5)
Help Charlie Brown and his friends find the meaning of Christmas. Narrated by Peter Robbins, the original voice of Charlie Brown, and featuring the original soundtrack, this Christmas app transforms the classic story into an interactive storybook with animations that bring the charming illustrations to life. You can also use the app to create your own Charlie Brown Christmas Tree with over 150 ornaments and decorations. There’s an educational element, too, as you can tap individual words to hear them, and there’s support for word and note highlighting. This app also comes bundled with an iMessage sticker pack.
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Christmas Sweeper 3
Are you a fan of Candy Crush? Then you’ll love Christmas Sweeper 3. This game comes with over 1,000 challenging levels. You can play as long as you want, as there are no lives to lose. Make matches of four and five to create bombs and power-ups. Get your reward of cookies and soda in a game that will keep you busy for a long time after Christmas. Check out our picks of the best iPhone games and best Android games for alternatives.
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How the Grinch Stole Christmas ($4)
Dr. Seuss’ famous How the Grinch Stole Christmas has been made into an interactive book for kids. If you need something to keep them occupied while waiting to open their presents, this $4 app lets them follow the Grinch as he attempts to keep Christmas from coming. Tap on pictures to show new words, enjoy the narration, and watch out for the custom sound effects.
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ElfYourself
This app is hilarious. You replace the Elf faces with the faces of up to five people. Maybe your family and friends? Once the faces are set, you select a dance theme, and the app creates a comical dance video. Once it’s done, you can share the video on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. You can also purchase additional videos featuring different themes.
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A Call From Santa!
If your kids are tech savvy they’ll love A Call From Santa! As the app says, you can call Santa, record a wish list, and hear what Santa is doing. This app also has a Santa Chatbot that chats with you, just like you’re chatting with the real Santa. You can also request a call from Santa, and you can let your children record a voice message for Santa. This app is free, and a must have for the kids.
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PNP 2017 Portable North Pole
This will bring a smile to any child’s face. Portable North Pole has been around for a very long time, and it’s as magical as it has always been. Input some information about your child and a personalized video from Santa will play. There are some activities included in the app, but the main idea is for the kids to find out from Santa if they’re on the naughty or nice list. This app has some in-app purchases that include a reaction recorder, and story time. The purchases are valid until September 30, 2017.
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NORAD Santa Tracker
Once a year NORAD takes a moment to track Santa’s journey. This lets you see where Santa is located around the world. The app starts tracking Santa on Christmas Eve, and shows you a satellite map where you can see in detail where he is. You can also follow @NoradSanta on Twitter to get the latest on Santa’s journey around the world.
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Dr. Seuss Camera – The Grinch Edition ($1)
The Dr. Seuss Camera app allows you to create funny Christmas cards right on your iOS device. You select a card, and you can choose to become the Grinch himself, or you can take a picture with Dr. Seuss’ characters. Choose the character, position your face, and snap the picture. You can then add stamps, text, and format the picture with borders. You can email pictures to your friends and family, or save them in your camera roll to share on your social media.
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The Christmas List ($3)
This app is great to keep track of your Christmas shopping. You can make a list of everyone you need to buy gifts for, and then you can set a budget for them. Let’s say that you add a friend. You’ll walk into the store, tap your friend’s name, and you’ll see the list of items you want to buy for this person, and, of course, the budget. You can then tap on the items as you buy them, and when you go back to the main screen, you can see how much you have left to spend on your gifts. This is a great way to keep track of what to buy, and most importantly not go over budget.
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If you’re looking forward to a quiet Christmas at home, check out our picks for the top 10 Christmas movies and TV episodes streaming right now.
Update: We added Christmas Sweeper 3, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Christmas Booth: Photo Fun.
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