It’s back, and he’s just taken off: Google’s Santa Tracker is now live, and you can follow the progress of jolly ol’ St Nick as he snakes his way across the globe delivering gifts.
Although designed for children, there’s a huge wealth of entertainment on offer (that adults will get lost in when ‘researching’ a story, including spending far too long on an Elf Wrap Battle or trying to do some basic coding to help an elf find a gift in a forest).
The site has been live throughout December for parents and teachers alike to help their children be entertained while learning at the same time – you can code a snowflake or learn a new language, while there are also chances to learn about how different cultures enjoy Christmas each year.
New for 2018, you can also track Santa through Google Maps, by going to ‘Location Sharing’ within the service (make sure your app is updated) and keeping an eye on where Father Christmas is right from the app itself.
There’s also an Android app to get access to the all the Santa Village shenanigans, or you can view it through a browser on a phone.
More ways to talk to Santa than ever
You can also now use Google Assistant to communicate directly with the patron of presents (either using Google Assistant baked into you Android phone, the Google app on iPhone in some regions or a Google-enabled smart speaker), allowing anyone to say ‘Hey Google, call Santa’ and be put through to the North Pole for a cheeky Christmas surprise.
It can also read Christmas stories and if you’re using the new Google Home Hub then you’ll get festive imagery too.
Head on over to the site now to start following Santa across the world, and try not to let the games suck up most of the morning – you’ve probably got a mountain of things to do before the big day tomorrow morning!
Oh, and if on the off chance that Father Christmas is reading this, these are the gifts we’re hoping to receive at TechRadar this year – we swear we’ve been good…
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