A screen shot from the Christmassy Angry Birds Seasons
The Christmas season can be wrought with plenty of rushing around – family visits, presents to buy and wrap, cards to write and post, and parties to organise and attend. There are plenty of Christmas apps available on iTunes to help with all of that, and even entertain you in the process. Here’s a selection:
Angry Birds Seasons
Cost: US99 cents
Compatible with: iPad, iPhone, iPod touch
The popular video has decked its hall with the festive spirit, Angry Bids style. Gamers can test their puzzle skills on the Angry Birds holiday calendar and in 25 new festive levels festooned with bells, candy canes, twinkling lights and gingerbread biscuits. Keep your eyes peeled for the newest Angry Bird, too (a partridge in a pear tree, perhaps?)
The Christmas List
Cost: US99 cents
Compatible with: iPad, iPhone, iPod touch
The Christmas List app has been designed to take the stress out of holiday shopping. It lets users email gift lists, view a shopping list, enter a gift once and assign it to multiple recipients, track spending by groups and individuals, add favourite stores and contacts from your iPhone, store photos of people and gifts, and track gifts by their status, be they shipped, received or wrapped. To top it off, the app comes with a countdown of shopping days until Christmas.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! – Dr. Suess
Cost: US$4.99
Compatible with: iPad, iPhone, iPod touch
The Dr Seuss classic that has delighted both children and adults for decades includes the story of the Grinch who hates Who-ville’s holiday celebrations and plans to pilfer all the presents to stop Christmas from coming. The app combines text and artwork to help young children learn to read, and ‘Read to Me’, which lets users listen to the narrated story with words highlighted as they are read. The ‘Auto Play’ feature reads and turns pages automatically, and the app also comes with picture/word association, where words zoom up and are spoken when the user touches pictures.
Holiday Cards by Sincerely Ink: Christmas, New Year & Hanukkah Cards, Too!
Cost: Free
Compatible with: iPad, iPhone, iPod touch
User of this app can send holiday cards directly to their friends and family. More than 30 photo cards and illustrated designs allows users to personalise their cards with their photos and text. The app even lets card makers apply photo filters. The app makers vows stress-free delivery backed by a guarantee. The cards, printed on thick, glossy, 5 x 7 inch photo postcards at 300dpi resolution are delivered to the US, UK, European and Canadian addresses in less than seven days, and within two to three weeks to the rest of the world. While this app itself is free, it will cost to post the cards.
Musicshake Christmas Edition
Cost: Free
Compatible with: iPod, iPhone, iPod touch
Rock around your Christmas tree with help from Musicshake Christmas Edition. This app lets you remix some Christmas carols, then all you have to do is shake, tap and listen, and the app takes care of the rest. The app includes one dedicated track for voice recording, an offline mode, so music makers can create tunes without an internet connection, and lots more. It even comes with unlimited ringtone creation, lets you save songs and post them on Facebook, and has a music chart to let you browse and listen to songs by other users of the app.
