The moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived – it’s time for TechRadar’s annual Santa Tracker! We’re going to be monitoring St. Nick’s whereabouts as he delivers all the best tech gifts this Christmas, following along using the two most popular trackers; NORAD and Google.
Kris Kringle’s annual jaunt across the globe is practically a sporting event these years, with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)’s Santa tracker historically being the go-to resource for following Santa’s whereabouts. However, nowadays thanks to the internet and smartphones, there are plenty of options to follow along as he delivers gifts at breakneck speeds.
We like to think we’re the best way to keep up-to-date, and will be sharing global festive traditions, holiday entertainment recommendations and even some hot last-minute tech bargains to keep you entertained.
In keeping with the continued ‘AI everywhere’ theme of 2024, we’ve also asked Firefly AI to create some images of the big man himself and the elves back at home as they prep for some serious gift-giving. They’re only slightly cursed.
What’s a Santa tracker?
Santa tracking is a well-loved tradition increasingly observed worldwide, but it all began with a happy accident in 1955. According to NORAD, a Sears catalog accidentally printed the Colorado Springs’ Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Center’s phone number instead of a Santa hotline and began to receive calls from children hopeful to speak to Klaus himself.
Seeing an opportunity for a little festive fun (and some positive PR), CONAD began publishing press releases on Santa’s whereabouts every year, handing the reins to NORAD after its formation in 1958. In 2004, Google released its own Santa Tracker, which offers a very different experience but is still just as fun.
Fast forward to today and there are a number of ways to find out what’s happening to Santa, but these two are the key ones to look out for, in our expert opinion.
Which is the best Santa tracker?
You’ve got two main choices when it comes to tracking Santa – they offer different ways of following along, but which is best depends on the experience you’re looking for.
The original way of following Santa and, some would say, the best. This website, run by the US military, fuses gruff colonels presenting a video about Santa Claus with live, up-to-the-minute info on 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’ll be presented with some mini-games to play as well as being able to follow the progress of the present-giving live.
It’s quite basic compared to other trackers, lacking a lot of polish and website design. However, it’s also the most popular and has a heartwarming history behind it – as well as an army of volunteers ready to take your call to find out where Santa is, and the power of Verizon’s network in a now 22-year partnership.
NORAD has also added an AI chatbot called Radar to help you spot Santa too, but if you can be bothered, then dialling +1 (877) HI-NORAD will do the trick too.
A more recent addition to the Santa tracking mix, Google’s Santa Tracker has been going since 2004, combining the power of Google Maps with the savvy knowledge of where Father Christmas is.
How to play the Santa games on mobile
Every year, when we publish this guide, we have people wondering how to play the games on mobile as the big ‘PLAY!’ button in the middle of the screen sometimes fails and will only ever give you random games or video anyway. Well, just go to the Santa Tracker site on a mobile browser, click the three lines in the top left-hand corner and see all the games to play. (Note – the ‘install’ option, which tells you to ‘Add to Home Screen’, doesn’t work on iPhones).
While Google doesn’t have the same satellite tracking power as NORAD, one has to assume the search giant has struck a deal with the North Pole to figure out where he is in real-time using search and radar and lasers and… stuff. Don’t ask us to interpret the magic.
Backing up the Santa Tracker are a whole host of minigames to play, as well as a month-long website encouraging children to learn to code while they encounter a winter wonderland.
There are some pro-Google tools moments in this Santa Tracker – the Quick Draw game is designed to teach Google’s image-recognition software to improve, which feels a bit odd – but it’s a wonderfully designed site and arguably the most visually accessible way to follow 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 has the best and easiest-to-use desktop experience, too.
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