App Weekly: Here are 6 apps to spread the Christmas cheer this holiday season

Light up this holiday season with a collection of apps designed to get you in a cheery mood. Find your own unique version of holiday greetings with ‘Elf Yourself’. [caption id=“attachment_4262693” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] App Weekly: Your weekly roundup of the best apps for your mobile[/caption] Track Santa as he goes across the world delivering gifts to everyone with Google’s Santa Tracker and enjoys sharing your bounty with others on Feed someone. Here’s wishing you some great memories with your loved ones this Christmas! 1. Elf Mail Some might say the magic of Christmas had died now that kids have the power to Google. It is hard to maintain such innocent illusions as for the existence of Santa and his elves in the digital age. This is where Elf Mail can help you. Letters to Santa are relics of a forgotten era. In Elf Mail, your child can simply text one of Santa’s little helpers and know exactly where they stand on the scale of morality decided by Santa. This app allows parents to trick their children into being good for material gains. [caption id=“attachment_4273661” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Image: Google Play Store[/caption] The two interfaces for adults and kids are separated by a passcode. Be sure to change over before you hand the device to your child or the illusion will be shattered. You could tell your child to complete his chores or else there’ll be fewer gifts at Christmas. For added believability, your elf will also speak out the words you put in his mouth! The app is beautifully designed and has a Christmas countdown timer too. Elf Mail is an enchanting app, a view that is unlikely to be shared by your children once they grow out of believing in Santa and this app. 2. Elf Yourself [caption id=“attachment_4273659” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Image: Google Play Store[/caption] This creatively named app allows you to superimpose your face and those of four others onto elves. This app has existed for several years but this time, there are a lot more dances you can pass off as your own. Choose from Hip Hop, House Party, Wonderland or many others. The dances are for a dollar each and you can unlock all of them for $6. The dances will always crack you up because of the sheer exaggeration and unbelievable CG backgrounds. You could have your entire family dancing in a desert to the tunes of Feliz Navidad and send that as a Christmas greeting rather than the usual GIF. This app is worth downloading and trying for the laughs it will generate. Who knew Santa’s elves could party that hard. 3. Google Santa Tracker Google’s Santa Tracker is right there with Elf Mail when it comes to maintaining the legend of North Pole’s most famous inhabitant. Have your kids track Santa or go down memory lane yourself. This app is the perfect holiday app with a timer for Santa’s takeoff and a bunch of Christmas games. Help a penguin win a swimming contest, drop presents to the right address or fly over cities collecting Christmas goodies. In ‘Code a Snowflake’, kids can learn the basics of code by creating a snowflake using a drag-and-drop interface.

They can also watch their unique snowflakes in action, drifting slowly on greeting cards. The feature to track Santa is activated only on Christmas and until then, the app featured new games every day and short movies, all made in festive material design. 4. POL Let’s Go! [caption id=“attachment_4273667” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Image: Google Play Store[/caption] While we’re thinking of elves and Santa, let’s not forget about the other inhabitants of wintry wonderlands, polar bears. In POL Let’s Go!, you control a satellite and help a lone polar bear make his way to safety over broken ice. The game is quietly grave and underlines the gravity of climate change with the help of little details. For example, once you complete a level, you’re shown a few messages of what life might be like in the future. Our grandchildren may never know what snow looks like and polar bears may become as mythical as Santa. The gameplay itself relies on only two buttons and different combos help tackle the obstacles in Pol’s path. This game would be the perfect medium to explain the reality of global warming in a kid-friendly manner. 5. Elf Adventure

Elf Adventure is a game for kids which has them follow along with the story of elves in Santa’s workshop. The game is practically a storybook with a few minigames thrown in. The objective of the game is to light up all the windows in the elves’ workshop which is shaped like one of those novelty advent calendars. The illustrations are gorgeous and the story coupled with the cheery background music will enchant your child.The games are quite intuitive and charming. Elf Adventure is filled with giggling elves and clever rhymes. 6. Feedsomeone - Feed a child

This Christmas, don’t limit the joy and gift-giving and share the happiness with the less fortunate. The app takes a donation of Rs. 15 to feed one child and gives you tangible evidence that your money has been used for good. The dedicated team will feed a child within hours of your donation and send you a photo. The app is easy to set up and consists of a simple interface which gives you the option to sponsor a child for different periods and a bunch of images of happy kids holding up their plates to the camera. They also claim to use face-detection and geo-fencing to ensure that there is no fraud. Now that you have an easy and safe way to benefit someone else, go ahead and PayTm them some money! The initiative is led by Helpsomeone Foundation.