The top 12 Christmas apps – covering cooking to Santa tracking

Embrace technology’s assistance this year, be it for gift hunting, financial planning, or discovering fresh recipes and cocktails

‘Tis the season once more, with shorter days, mince pies gracing the shelves, and Mariah Carey’s tunes filling the air. As arrangements for office Christmas parties and family get-togethers take shape, here are some apps that could prove useful for the holiday season.

Elfster

Coordinating Office Secret Santas can be challenging, especially with the widespread shift to remote work. Elfster simplifies the process by enabling you to establish a group, extend invitations to friends and family, assign names, establish spending limits, and facilitate gift exchanges. Participants can also craft wish lists, and the app’s curated gift guides, categorized by budget, serve as a fantastic source of inspiration. Beyond office celebrations, it’s a handy app for creating gift registries with friends and family for various occasions.

Etsy

For a more considerate approach to Christmas gifts this year, explore Etsy. Offering a plethora of choices for unique, handmade, vintage, and custom items, it’s akin to having a Christmas market at your fingertips. Since most sellers are independent businesses, shopping on Etsy allows you to spread holiday cheer while finding special gifts. The app even enables direct communication with shop owners, allowing you to personalize your presents.

AccuWeather

Unpredictable weather can disrupt even the most well-planned arrangements, especially when your calendar is packed with social engagements. AccuWeather offers a simple yet precise live weather forecast app tailored to your current postcode. Its MinuteCast feature provides a detailed breakdown of weather conditions for the next four hours, including rainfall predictions up to two hours ahead. This app can be a genuine lifesaver, ensuring you don’t arrive drenched at your friend’s Christmas party.

Go Jauntly

If stepping out for some vitamin D and exercise proves challenging, Go Jauntly is the perfect app for you. Its walking map feature presents delightful walks in your vicinity that you can tailor based on distance and destination – ideal for a Christmas or Boxing Day stroll.

You can download, save, and share trails, even curating your own with photos, routes, and descriptions. Trying out the “Moments of Joy in West London” walk, I discovered a scenic route, highlighting places to purchase flowers and suggesting stops to appreciate street art or mosaic-tiled alleyways that might have otherwise escaped my notice. The app also pinpoints charming cafes and art galleries. Additionally, it offers the option to participate in walking challenges, and the Nature Notes feature allows you to log interesting flora and fauna spotted during your walks.

Kitchen Stories: Recipes

Whether you’re preparing the crucial Christmas dinner or whipping up your favorite winter comfort treats, the Kitchen Stories app simplifies the process with its step-by-step recipe guides. The enjoyable aspect is that you can join a community of millions of amateur chefs globally, sharing your culinary endeavors and compiling your preferred recipes in your personal cookbook. It’s the ideal excuse to spend colder days indoors in the cozy warmth of a kitchen.

Snoop

The holiday season can strain your finances, so if you haven’t embraced a finance app yet, consider this your cue to download Snoop. This money management app assists you in monitoring your expenditures, establishing budgets, and staying on top of your bills. Snoop consolidates all your accounts into one convenient location, providing detailed spending summaries so you can precisely track your weekly and monthly expenses. Additionally, the app sends you a weekly reminder about upcoming bills and contract renewals, allowing you to plan ahead and make any necessary cancellations.

Skyscanner

Do you have some unused paid leave to utilize before the year ends? Or are you in need of a spontaneous winter getaway? If you’re feeling impromptu, Skyscanner’s “Everywhere” feature displays affordable flights to destinations worldwide. If you’re already planning next year’s holidays, the app informs you of the optimal time to fly to your chosen destination. It allows you to compare flights from major travel brands, supplemented by reviews from fellow travelers. If you’re still uncertain, you can set up a Price Alert to receive notifications when flight prices fluctuate. Skyscanner extends its services beyond flight bookings, aiding you in comparing and discovering deals on accommodations and car rentals.

Canva

While physical greeting cards may be fading fast, you can still preserve the holiday spirit digitally using Canva. Whether it’s your annual Christmas card, New Year party invitations, or a menu for Christmas dinner, you can design it all. The app’s user-friendly interface makes the process effortless, even for those with zero design experience. Just pick a festive template and begin customizing it with your own photos, illustrations, text, and graphics.

Mixel

Mixel is a cocktail app that empowers you to craft delightful drinks utilizing ingredients readily available in your kitchen. Boasting a curated library of over 2,600 cocktail recipes, it’s an excellent choice if you’re keen on trying your hand at mixology. The standout feature is its entertaining pixel-art interface, displaying the ingredients you’re incorporating into your concoctions.

NORAD Tracks Santa

For over six decades, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has monitored Santa Claus’s voyage, ensuring the enchantment of Christmas endures for children globally. The program kicks off in December, with the actual sleigh-tracking simulation commencing early on Christmas Eve. The app is ideal for families, offering interactive features like a live map, games, and music.

Heads Up!

No holiday gathering is complete without charades, and this version gained popularity on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. With the phone held up to their forehead, players attempt to guess the word displayed on the screen based on clues provided by friends and family. They nod upon correctly guessing the phrase or tilt their heads up to skip to a new word. Users can opt for themed decks, such as celebrities, movies, and animals, or create their own decks by making in-app purchases for each new deck.

Lapse

The most recent photo app, which surged to the top of the App Store charts last month, Lapse asserts its ability to transform your phone into a disposable camera. Unlike your standard camera app, once you capture an image on Lapse, you won’t be able to view it until it “develops” at a random time later in the day, allowing you to savor the moment. The app imparts a grainy, analogue effect to the captured images, and you can share these snapshots with your friends. Additionally, it generates a monthly photo dump on your phone, and you have the option to curate your favorite pictures into albums.