The moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived: it’s time for TechRadar’s annual Santa Tracker!
We will be monitoring St. Nick’s whereabouts as he delivers all the The best technological gifts for this Christmas.following the use of the two most popular trackers; NORAD and Google.
Every year, millions of people tune in to watch Kris Kringle’s annual global gift tour. It’s practically a sporting event, with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Google running Santa Trackers to track your every move.
What is a Santa tracker?
Santa tracking is a beloved tradition that is increasingly observed around the world, but it all started with a happy accident in 1955, making this the 70th year of Santa tracking nonsense. According to NORAD, a Sears catalog accidentally printed the phone number for the Colorado Springs Continental Air Defense Command Center (CONAD) instead of a Santa hotline and began receiving calls from children hoping to speak to Klaus himself.
Seeing an opportunity for some holiday fun (and some positive PR), CONAD began publishing press releases about Santa’s whereabouts each year, handing the reins to NORAD after its formation in 1958. In 2004, Google launched its own Santa Tracker, which offers a very different experience but is still just as fun.
Fast forward to today, and there are several ways to figure out what’s happening to Santa, but these two are the keys to keep in mind, in our expert opinion.
What is the best Santa tracker? NORAD vs. Google
The original way to follow Santa and, some would say, still the best, this website is actually run by the US Army. It merges gruff colonels presenting a video about Santa Claus with live, up-to-date information about where the man in the big red suit is.
You can download the app on the App Store or Google Play Store, and from there you will be presented with some mini-games to play, as well as being able to follow the progress of the gift delivery live.
It’s pretty basic compared to other trackers and lacks a lot of polish and website design. However, it is also the most popular and has a heartwarming story behind it, as well as an army of volunteers ready to answer your call to find out where Santa is and the power of the Verizon network in a partnership that has now been going on for 23 years.
NORAD has also added an AI chatbot called Radar to help you spot Santa, but if you prefer to use the phone, dialing +1 (877) HI-NORAD will also do the trick.
A more recent addition to the Santa tracking mix, Google’s Santa Tracker, has been running since 2004, combining the power of Google Maps with intelligent knowledge of where Santa is.
How to play Santa games on mobile
Every year when we publish this guide, there are people who wonder how to play games on mobile like the great ‘PLAY’. The button in the middle of the screen sometimes crashes and will only give you random games or videos anyway. Well, just go to the Santa Tracker site on a mobile browser, click on the three lines in the top left corner, and see all the games to play. (Note: the ‘install’ option, which tells you to ‘Add to Home Screen’, does not work on iPhone.)
While Google doesn’t have the same satellite tracking power as NORAD, one has to assume that the search giant has struck a deal with the North Pole to determine where it is in real time using search, radar, lasers, and… stuff. Don’t ask us to interpret magic.
Backing up the Santa Tracker are plenty of mini-games to play, as well as a month-long website that encourages kids to learn to code while encountering a winter wonderland.
There are a few moments in favor of Google’s tools in this Santa Tracker: the Quick Draw game is designed to teach you how to improve Google’s image recognition software, which seems a little strange, but it’s a wonderfully designed site and possibly the most visually accessible way to track Santa.
You can download the app from the Google Play Store, but in our eyes the mobile site is just as good and more accessible for iPhone users, plus Google’s Santa Tracker also has the best and easiest desktop experience to use.
