We’re back for another year of Santa tracking, where we’re bringing you all the updates from the top Santa trackers all over the world – and this year, we’re live-blogging the experience for you too, focusing heavily on the two biggest trackers: NORAD and Google, both of which offer very different experiences.
There are a variety of ways to track Santa these days thanks to the advent of the smartphone, so if you’re looking to find out precisely when you’re going to get your presents, that’s what we’re here for.
The tradition of watching where Santa cross the globe began in 1955 when, legend has it, a child mistakenly called Colorado Springs’ Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Center after a misprint in a Sears catalog for a number to call to speak to Santa.
The American military realized this was a PR dream, and began putting out press releases on the whereabouts of Santa each year, with comical stories added in too, with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) taking over. In the early 1980s, a hotline was added to let people call to find out where he is.
Fast forward to today and there are a number of ways to find out what’s happening to Santa – with Google’s Santa Tracker joining the party in 2004 – and these are the key ones to look out for.
Santa Tracker: Norad vs Google
You’ve got two main choices when it comes to tracking Santa – both offer different ways of following jolly ol’ St Nick, but it 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 a number of mini games to play as well as being able to follow the progress of the present giving live.
It’s a far more rudimentary experience than other trackers out there, lacking a lot of polish and website design.
However, it’s also the most popular and has the heart-warming history behind it – as well as an army of volunteers ready to take your call to find out where Santa is.
NORAD has also added in an AI chatbot called Radar to help you spot Santa too, if you can’t be bothered with all that talking, which is a bit lovely. But if you can bothered, then dialling +1 (877) HI-NORAD will do the trick too.
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 game 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).
A more recent addition to the Santa tracking mix, Google’s Santa Tracker has still been going since 2004, combining the power of Google Maps with the savvy knowledge of where Father Christmas is.
While Google doesn’t have the same satellite tracking power of 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 lazers 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 Tensor 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 accessible for iPhone users, plus Google’s Santa Tracker has the best, simple-to-use desktop experience too.
- Already got your presents or know too much about Santa? Then check out the best Boxing Day sales / Christmas sales to get the best bargains out there.
Well, here we are. Santa is set to take off in just a few hours, and we’ll be following his progress closely. Here’s a taste of what you can expect from last year, when he was sailing over the Taj Majal – Google showed him landing gifts for thousands of children, with a total of how many presents he’s dispensed.
Spoiler, he does loads. Even with the magic of the sleigh, I’m not sure how he manages to carry them all, but I’ve watched enough Christmas films to know never to question the magic lest he miss my house this year.
More ways to talk to Santa than ever
Can’t be bothered calling or using the internet with your fingers?
You can 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, what’s new at the North Pole’ and hear the latest news updates from Santa’s world.
I thought it might be fun to try our Radar, NORAD’s chatbot, to see how it was getting on before Santa Claus takes off.
It’s not the most together of articifial intelligence at this time, but he’s probably like me and so excited for Christmas that it can hardly sleep – deprivation of the zzz’s makes anything hard.
Google uses this Santa Tracker as a way of learning more about its systems and tools, letting its developers play with computer and mobile interactions in new ways.
According to a blog post, they don’t always work though…
” One engineer who focused on AI and human movement came up with this idea for a game where you could enable tracking on your computer and teach the elves to dance,” said Dave Holmes of Google, “and they would mimic your movement.” But just before launch…they found a glitch. “If the tracker lost you for a second…the elves’ heads and arms would go flying off!”
Right, it’s still a fair few hours before we see Santa take off, so I’m off for some rest – I’m pretty sure a small child is going to wake me up with the excitement of opening their calendar for the final time, so some shut-eye is needed.
However, it won’t be long and I’ll be back with all you need to know as Santa takes to the skies – as well as fun and interesting (promise) information on how Santa tracking even came into being.
Good morning! We are very, very close to Santa taking off and beginning his trip around the world to give billions of gifts to the good boys and girls of this world, but we can confirm he is still checking his sleigh, sack of presents and the engineering elves are making the final checks to his new TurboKringle Elevation Yonder 9000 rocket (TurKEY 9000).
We’ve been checking the specs of his sleigh over at the NORAD website, and while they’ve clearly not been informed of the new TurKEY rocket, they still estimate that Santa can move faster than starlight using just basic 9 Reindeer Power.
Man alive, he’s going to be rapid this year, then.
If you want to find out where Santa is hands free, and you have an Echo or Echo Dot, then another trick you can try is enabling the NORAD Santa Tracker skill on Alexa, which will then allow you to say things like “Alexa, ask NORAD Tracks Santa, where’s Santa?” – it’s a bit cumbersome but if Alexa is the only smart assistant in your house, you’ve got to work with what you’ve got.
You can ask ‘Alexa, where’s Santa?’ if you enable another holiday personality skill too – head into the app and you’ll see it displayed proudly at the top, and you can get stories, info and all manner of things too.
Watch out if you’re trying to play some of the games in the Google Santa Tracker village – we’re live testing with small children right now, and the pages seem to be hanging.
Here’s how to fix it: when the page shows the picture of Santa and Mrs Claus holding hands (wearing masks, excellent), just click the URL at the top or bottom of the page and reload it. That seems to solve it.
Good news – the NORAD tracking site has confirmed: “Current conditions at the North Pole indicate good weather for flying.”
That’s what we like to hear.
I can confirm that Santa is still in his workshop preparing. Estimating 50 minutes until takeoff.
There’s a big debate going on right now – which is the best Christmas film? For me, it’s Home Alone – but that’s a bit of a lonely one in our house at the moment, because the small person we have can’t watch it yet.
We put it on, thinking that it would be a nice thing for her to watch last year, and she turns to us 10 minutes in, with wide, watering eyes and whispers ‘…they don’t leave him do they?’
‘NOPE!’ came the swift reply, turning off the TV. She now thinks Home Alone is a short film about a family preparing for a trip and that’s it.
Anyway, if you’re wondering which the top choices are, check out our best Christmas movie list and argue amongst yourselves – let us know over on @techradar on Twitter.
We’re t-minus 10 minutes from the take off – the Google Live Feed is, well, live now, and he’s prepping to leave the North Pole.
NORAD is still showing him in the workshop at the moment – the big man is cutting it fine here.
And he’s off! Can confirm he’s now heading over the Arctic Ocean and has already delivered nearly 2000 presents.
St Nick is good at this, right?
NORAD is readying the closer inspection – last update: “NORAD radars and satellites are ready to track Santa!”
With Santa already hard at work it seems like the NORAD Santa tracker is having a hard time keeping track of him! Luckily the big man has his most excitable elf currently working to try and get things up and running, and for now, you can stick with using the Google Santa tracker.
Of course, this could be down to how fast he’s flying around the world. Did you know that Santa’s sleigh has to travel 650 miles per second (that’s 3,000 times the speed of sound!) in order to deliver all those presents on time? Elon Musk’s rockets could never compete with Santa’s magical reindeer.
Santa has landed in New Zealand! He’s likely had to take his jacket off as it’s 17°C / 62°F right now, so it’s little wonder that a BBQ is just as likely to be the official meal of Christmas day alongside a traditional roast lunch or dinner.
Kiwis also have their own special Christmas Tree, the Pōhutukawa which has bright red flowers that are popular decorations and also feature on Christmas cards. It’s been associated with Christmas since the mid 1800s, though many people do also erect the globally recognised pine-style tree in their homes.
The NORAD Santa Tracker is now also up and running! There are other ways of keeping track of what he’s doing of course, and technology only makes things easier – if you own a Google Home or Amazon Echo smart speaker then try asking it to ‘Call Santa’ to have a quick chat with the big man himself or one of his elf staff. Presumably the Sleigh has a roof on it to prevent wind noise or he’s had to stop for a quick break.
Santa has hit China! He’s ahead of schedule still, as it’s 10PM there, but at least that means he gets a fantastic view of the city skyline at night.
In China, Santa Claus is known as Sheng Dan Lao Ren, Old Christmas Man, or Lan Khoong-Khoong, Nice Old Father. On Christmas Eve, children hang up their muslin stockings so Santa can fill them with gifts.
OK EVERYONE, THIS IS NOT A DRILL. Santa is heading for Christmas Island!
Why is it called Christmas Island? Surely it’s Father Christmas’ holiday destination, off the coast of Australia?
It could well be – but the reason for the name is less exciting. The first European to sight the island decided that it should be so named because… Captain William Mynors named it on Christmas Day (25 December) 1643.
Seems a bit obvious, really.
While Santa is all over the world delivering gifts, we’ve got all manner of mini games to be going through. Despite what our Content Director might say to me, I firmly believe researching these games with a little one is an excellent use of my time.
“It is amazing! You get so much fun because they say what you have to draw and then you have to try and draw it. “
This is from the child’s review – the premise is a robot is using machine learning to work out what’s being drawn in pen. It’s actually rather fun, although getting it to recognise things like ‘Candy’ is a little tricky. Stupid robot.
Hang on, is this us helping Google’s machine learning get smarter? This is the description:
“Tensor is Santa’s Machine Learning robot that helps him quickly decipher the letters he receives from children all over the world. To help Tensor practice, draw a picture of each holiday word on the screen and it will tell you what it sees. The more you draw, the smarter Tensor will get, so let’s help Santa be more efficient than ever this holiday season!”
Hmmm…
A lot of people are wondering which of the two Santa Trackers is best for following the path of Kriss Kringle around the world.
It’s a tricky one: Google’s one is more slick, with faster and more cartoonish animations, as well as a more comprehensively Christmas-themed amount of mini games.
However, NORAD has a really comprehensive and professional feel about it – it’s clear that the US Military really takes the business of tracking Santa seriously.
But here’s a good way to decide between the two – Brett just emailed me with the following:
“Nice work on the live Santa tracker article! I hopped on NORAD first and my main goal was to cast it to the main TV so the kids could watch all day (we’re here in Ohio).
“NORAD definitely, with the lack design, kept glitching with the 3D view through Chrome as a cast tab to the TV.
“I hopped over to the Google tracker and they actually have a separate full screen map interface when you cast it! Looks great on the TV, music & photos of the location, along with a countdown to your personal location.”
So if you want it on the background of the house, Google is definitely the one to go for, but I’ve also found that kids like the 3D view of Father Christmas as well – plus the actual pictures from fighter jets is something Google isn’t offering…
So where is Santa right now? Google and NORAD are diverging at this point – if you’re following the Google Santa Tracker has him near Kazakhstan, bt NORAD is showing him as well past there and into India by now.
We’re inclined to believe the NORAD tracker, but Google has got some lovely pictures of the area and showing how Christmas is celebrated.
Fun fact: it’s almost always a white Christmas in Kazakhstan as it snows regularly over the four months of yuletide.
Santa is now heading to the wonderfully-named Glorioso Islands, off the coast of Madagascar in the Indian ocean.
I can’t imagine he’ll be there too long – these are two lush, coconut-filled islands which are only eight times the size of The Mall in Washington, and are sparsely populated by French military and meteorologists. Probably get that done in under a nanosecond – quicker if they’ve all been naughty.
I think it’s time to ‘review’ another couple of mini-games from Google’s Santa tracker after our writer Rhys Wood wrote this… this is a person who managed to legitimately avoid work on Christmas Eve. Smart, that one. Smart.
“The game is fun, but you just have to make sure that the springs work properly. That’s basically it.”
The little person’s review above doesn’t really do the situation justice – trying to play it on a tablet wasn’t a pleasant experience, as you need to move springs and conveyor belts around the board to get the gumball to drop in where you need it to.
It’s so much easier on a laptop with a mouse and keyboard – as most of these games are. But it’s a fun, diverting way to get the little ones to think logically / waste time when you’re supposed to be working on Christmas Eve.
This Battle Royale-style game sees you slinging your way around a forest, dodging behind trees and grabbing power-ups in the shape of presents. It’s infuriating and slightly addictive – you need to master the tap (or click) to really make your way through it.
It was so infuriating that it incited one our writers to pen… well, this last year. Read it to understand his battle with futility at this game.
Want to know what goes on behind the scenes at NORAD when you get through to a volunteer to find out the current location of Santa?
Well, wonder no more – it’s basically someone checking the data and letting you know where he is, while also giving the information that you must be asleep to make sure he visits.
Surprised something so closely related to the military is allowed to be so behind the scenes…
Santa’s cruising over water right now, having left Saudi Arabia behind (it’s only recently dropped restrictions on Christmas celebrations), and getting very close to Kyiv, Ukraine. Wonder if Santa will pause for a bit of kutia (boiled grains, honey, nuts, poppy seeds, dried fruits, and your toppings of choice) before dropping off presents.
A few other choices
If you’re not a fan of Norad or Google, then you’ve got the choice of a few others. They’re not as fully-featured or comprehensive with the mini-games, but they are still charming in their own right.
- Santa Update – this is one that takes third place in popularity behind Google and NORAD, taking data from North Pole Flight Command. A few little games to play and activities make it a fun event. I’m a big fan of the Naughty List confessional, to get you off the list.
- North Pole Flight Command – an alternative map of Santa activities, you can also get texts from where he is around the globe if you subscribe.
- Santa Tracker App – a fairly rudimentary app that mimics Google in a lot of ways – is free to start with interstitial ads. Doesn’t seem perfect in terms of tracking around the world at the moment, and rather glitchy in places – but has a few fun features.
- Email Santa – a site that’s been running since 1999, it’s got a very ‘homemade’ feel around it – as in, it’s a site that takes cues from the early part of the century in terms of web design. It’s got some charming features – the headline being the chance to enter some information into fields and get your own personalized letter from Santa in minutes – as well as a new AI chat feature, although that’s still a little bug-filled.
- Sky TV (UK only) – if you hit the home button as a Sky user, you’ll see a live map of the route Santa is taking. You can also use the voice function to just ask ‘Where’s Santa?’
According to the Google tracker, Santa is cruising into Finland, the somewhat contested home of Santa Claus. Some believe St. Nicholas emerged from Turkey, but the Fins are certain the bearded one emerged from Korvatunturi, a fell in Lapland. Either way, it’s a fair bet Claus will spend a little extra time in his adopted homeland, even if only to set the record straight and remind people that he may have sprung in full from Macy’s in New York.
Santa’s now in Europe, delivering presents across Vienna and Slovakia (more than 3 billion, so far, by Norad’s count). The Slovaks are keen Christmas followers, having set up their Advent calendars weeks ago and now cleaning, cooking, and baking for what is the most important night of all – Christmas Eve, or as they know it, ‘Stedry vecer’ (the Generous Evening).
Santa’s reached Tunisia, and the northernmost point of Africa, according to NORAD’s tracker. The bearded big guy is barreling north, having criss-crossed Africa — and soon he’s set to to bust his way out of the old world and off toward the new. Which has us wondering: Wouldn’t that be an awfully cold journey in a sleigh … even with a fur-trimmed cape and hat?
Next stop: Belfast, Ireland, as Santa puts a bow on England and Europe. Hopefully, more than just a bow, of course. Did you leave out milk and cookies?
