The gifting season is here!
For everything else that Christmas brings to our lives by far the best and most awaited part is naturally when Santa comes riding on his reindeer with his bag full of gifts. I have grown up looking forward to Santa Claus and nothing much has changed in the years that followed. Come December and I am all excited about the chubby old man in his startling red dress!
Naturally while the reds, greens and whites are spreading their joy through the globe and Christmas markets are springing everywhere, the Google Play Store was not going to disappoint me. When I peeped to see what was new this Christmas I spent hours and days lost in the wonderful world of a Christmassy Android Experience.
Camera Apps
You have not managed to send out your Christmas cards yet? That’s horrible! You are being the Grinch for someone this Christmas! Thankfully we have technology on our side and some awesome developers who have created cute camera apps to customize and personalize Christmas greetings
Christmas Pho.to
This app allows you to click a picture or choose one from the gallery and introduce it to a uniqye snow flake frame or turn it into a page of a fairy tale book. You can even add text to your created image before saving it or sharing it. Its unique face recognition allows you to add a cap or reindeer horns to an existing photograph. The flop side is that the face recognition does recognize every face. Don’t get disheartened there are a lot of frame options to choose from.
Santa Cam
Santa Cam is a cute app which lets you add a Christmas Hat, Reindeer horns, a beard and a moustache and other such Christmassy objects to a photograph of your choice. This season send a personalized photograph drenched in the spirit of your Christmas to all your well wishers.
Christmas Frames for Free
Like the name suggests, this app offers a wide range for frames to choose from. All the frames are customized to depict a Christmas scene and you can choose a photograph to fit into this frame. I am not very happy with the resolution of the images it produces but it is not all bad either.
Download Christmas Frames for Free
My Sketch: Christmas Edition
For all lovers of My Sketch, this is a treat. Now you can personalize your sketched portrait with a Christmas frame and send it as a personalized greeting with warm wishes to all your loved ones!
Download My Sketch: Christmas Edition
Christmas Games
This year game developers from every nook and corner of the world seem to have decided that Santa needs to shed some weight. Is there any other reason why he should be running from game to game trying to get a bite of the Christmas cake or deliver a Christmas gift down the chimney? By the time poor Santa is done with this round of games he sure will be happy that he has till next December to sleep it off!
Hungry Santa
I thought this game was downright cruel to poor Santa! There is a lean little Santa looking skyward with his mouth open as delicious goodies drop down from the sky. You have to tilt the screen to get Santa to run with his mouth open in time to grab a bite of the ice-cream or the ginger man or the candy. Depending on how much you have managed to score, Santa will gain some fat. If you have a really tiny score, Santa will get a really tiny belly and so and so forth. Watch out, Santa does not like the broccoli which falls from the sky. If he gets a mouthful of broccoli he has to take time out to spit it out of his system!
Picky, picky, Santa! Wonder how many of you will manage to fatten him up!
Super Mega Worm Vs Santa 2
Not really a game I would recommend for those looking for nice festive game. As if watching the ugly brown worm get bigger and bigger chasing poor Santa all around town and swallowing him and his reindeers was not bad enough, I actually have to be the worm! Run Santa Run for your life! For all its gruesome attitude, the game is certainly addictive.
Download Super Mega Worm Vs Santa 2
Christmas Story: Elf Adventure
I wish I had talked about this game earlier! It is actually an entertaining advent calendar with 24 absolutely gorgeous episodes. You have to solve an episode every day to keep the elves going, but you will love solving these puzzles and getting closer to Christmas eve! Finally a game which salutes the fun spirit of celebration and all things naughty and nice.
Download Christmas Story: Elf Adventure
Santa Yumm
You thought the Grinch was bad? Look at this creature that is positively evil! He stands there with his mouth wide open and if you dare to; do put your finger in his mouth. If you pull your finger out too early you lose the game. If you leave your finger in too long it will be snapped and your screen will be splashed with a splatter of blood! To make it worse you will be rewarded with the most evil laugh! I think this vicious monster hogged Santa right out of this game! (P.S. It IS Christmas and I am allowed to get a little carried away)
Santa Claus for Kids
Let’s face it. Though we adults love to mess around with Santa Claus, it’s the kids who genuinely love him! The Santa Claus for Kids is a cute game which can be played by children above the age of two. They can hear the delighted laughter of the kids in the darkened homes when they play Santa Claus by directing the gifts falling from the sky to the chimneys of the houses. What a warm, Christmassy experience for a kid to have!
Santa Jumper
Remember that thing I told you about wanting to get Santa to shed some pounds? This game gets him to bounce all over the screen without a second of rest. You have to tilt your phone to get Santa to bounce higher and higher to get his gifts which will earn him small rewards like his sledge! Slip between the gaps and poor Santa has to start all over again!
Santa Bopper
Fed up with Santa for not listening to your wishes all these years? Here’s your chance to get even with him. He pops out from a chimney and you can poke him right in the face to get some points. Every now and then a Grinch pops out as well and he will steal your points. But focus! Keep poking Santa and his reindeer.
Padas Vs Ninjas
I love the Panda in the Santa costume! He is beyond cute! In the classic format of the angry birds, the Santa Panda hurls mini Pandas at the ninjas stacked beneath stones and bricks to destroy them! Keep destroying the Ninjas to complete more levels and to unlock all sorts of Pandas. Pandas which can fly, Pandas which can bounce, might Pandas, blue Pandas…
Tiny Santa
The Santa in this game is really tiny and the hill slopes huge when compared to him. You need to drag Santa through the night before the sun rises and get him to collect as many goodies as you can along the way. Really. That’s all there is to this game. Drag the Santa. Get him to hog. Drag the Santa. Collect points. Drag the Santa. Sun rises. Game over.
Santa Christmas Run
If you have ever played Pyramid Run, well this game is essentially the same thing, except that in the spirit of Christmas the runner has donned on the Santa outfit. Nothing Christmassy about either the Pyramid he has to run through or the mummies chasing him. I am a little disappointed that there are not even snowflakes raining down on the screen! But if you like to watch a brunette, well muscled Santa run…
Slingshot Santa
Inspired by angry birds (again) Santa has discovered a new way to deliver the gifts without clambering down the sooty chimney. He just loads them on this giant sling and aims and shoots them right down the chimney! You also have interesting candy gifts along the way which give you bonuses like bouncing the gifts upon tap if they are landing before the house. The game has interesting twists like the gifts becoming heavier if it’s raining and the gifts floating above the chimney instead dropping right in, if there is smoke coming out of the chimney. This game can keep you occupied for hours.
Santa’s Village
A classic Arcade game which helps you build Santa’s Village. The snowman is the wise man who hands out the tasks to you. The elves help you build homes and make toys and essentially run the village and every now and then the Grinch comes along to steal your toys so you have to be quick enough to collect them! This game can get you addicted to building a cute little village on the snowy mountain.
Christmas Themes
There is no better way to be washed in the spirit of Christmas than have snowflakes running down your screen and green elves and red Santas appearing on the corners. Following is a list of some adorable themes to remind you of the joy of the gifting season.
Go Locker Santa Claus Theme
You will need to have the Go Locker V1.05 installed on your phone to run this theme. Once you download and install this theme, you will have a cute Santa Claus who faithfully collects gifts from the gifting Christmas tree. As the moon grows brighter the gift lowers toward Santa’s open bag till it finally land into it! A truly Christmassy way to keep the spirits happy
Download Go Locker Santa Claus Theme
Santa on the way
It is a great theme to keep track of how close to the Christmas eve you are! You will need to download the Magic Locker app to run this theme. Watch Santa tread his way through snow and winds as he comes closer to your doorstep with his bag full of gifts!
Xmas Go Launcher Ex Theme
Needless to say you will need the Go Launcher Ex to really enjoy this theme. It’s by far one of the cutest Christmassy themes I have seen in a while. It is classy with a sophisticated snow flake design. But what takes the cake for me is all the app icons wearing the Santa hat! Absolutely recommended for those who believe in the magic of Christmas!
Download Xmas Go Launcher Ex Theme
Happy Xmas Theme
This is another theme which needs Go Launcher Ex to be installed. Apart from that it is a cute theme which will make people go awww when they look at your screen. App icons which look like a snowman, a gift box, candy canes and everything else related to the sweetness of Christmas are the highlight of this theme
Similar themes by the Go developer team which will induce the cute quotient in your Christmas mood are:
Live Wallpapers
If a theme is too heavy for your phone or all you want is a simple, cute looking live wall paper reminding you of the festive mood every time you look at your screen, this list is just for you:
Santa’s Sleigh
With snowed in Christmas trees for a background, Santa keeps running his sleigh and reindeers across your screen day and night. He even occasionally tilts his sleigh dropping gift boxes on to your screen.Do you need any more reminders that Christmas is round the corner?
New Year Santa
This is a cute wall paper which has an adorable Santa and equally adorable reindeers chasing around on your screen as the directional wooden arrow calculates the countdown towards the new year! Wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
If you don’t want the New Year Countdown, you can download just the Christmas Countdown of this version of live wallpaper.
Other Apps
Some other apps which I could not fit into any particular category but deserve a mention this Christmas are:
Santa Tracker
Developed by the Google Team this app is designed to help you track Santa on the Google Maps, so that you know how close to or far away from your home he is! I like the UI of this app and the color it adds to the regular maps.
Talking Santa Meets Ginger
Now have talking Santa and the talking cat Ginger together on your screen. Hear them talk your words back to you, make funny noises and interact with you. You can click pictures of them and even make videos to share with your friends. Celebrate friendship in a unique way with Santa and Ginger.
Download Talking Santa Meets Ginger
Talking Santa
If you had downloaded Talking Santa last year, there is no reason why you shouldn’t do it this year again! Santa is naughty, mischievous and cute and also has some friends he has pulled in to entertain you!
Talking Spooni
If you are bored of Santa switch over to the snowy extra terrestrial Spooni! It will talk back, do funny tricks and entertain you with a Christmassy background to keep reminding you that its festival time!!
Get cute, get naughty and embrace the spirit of a joyous December! If you have some apps which deserve to be mentioned before the Christmas eve, mention it in the comment box. However, hurry up! The countdown has already begun!
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