LOS ANGELES (KTLA) — It’s that time of the year when the kids want to connect with Santa! Thanks to technology, it’s easier than ever to make a magical experience right from your phone. Here are the apps and websites to visit to make it a Christmas to remember!
Portable North Pole, iOS and Android
Portable North Pole is a great first stop – whether you go directly to the website or download their mobile app. The first thing to do is make a custom Santa video for the kids. Pop in their name, age, a picture and more. Then, the site will deliver a fun video with Santa bringing all of your child’s personalized information to life!
A basic video is free. There are premium, paid options for additional videos for a variety of situations – even adults.
Take virtual pictures and videos with Santa
Pictures on Santa’s lap are tricky this time of the year, but there are several apps that can virtually “place” him in your home. There are a bunch on the app stores, but reporter Rich Demuro tested these specific apps and found them to be free and easy. They all offer paid upgrades as well, but if you just want a basic picture or video of Santa in your space, these will do the trick.
Catch Santa in My House from Capture the Magic is super easy – just snap a photo and then place a Santa sticker on the screen. There are many free stickers to choose from, including Santa hats, reindeer ears and more.
The iCaughtSanta App is very similar but there are only a handful of free Santa stickers to choose from. The Santa in iCaughtSanta also looks a bit more realistic.
ImagineAR on iOS and Android lets you virtually place a dancing, singing or sitting Santa in a video. To make it work, just download the app and select “AR Near Me,” then select a Santa “experience” from the bottom of the screen.
Tap to take a photo or press and hold the on-screen button to record a video. The final result is pretty neat!
Smart Speakers
If you have a smart speaker from Amazon or Google, getting in touch with the North Pole is easy!
On an Amazon Echo, just say “Alexa, Call Santa” to get connected.
On a Google speaker, try asking “Hey Google, what’s happening in the North Pole” for a fun news updates from the elves. You can also say “Hey Google, call Santa” to play a fun back and forth game.
Tracking Santa
Finally, when it comes to the Night Before Christmas, your kids will probably want to see where Santa is in the sky. NORAD has been keeping track of Santa on the big night for 65 years. This year, you can try a new chatbot feature on the site, which saw 15 million page views last year according to their partner, Microsoft.
Google also keeps track of Santa in a big way at SantaTracker.Google.com. Here, you can play fun games while you wait and see a countdown to the big day.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!