Kids Can Share What They Want In Tell Santa Claus
Tell Santa Claus ($0.99) by GoldenTrain gives parents a covert tool for finding out what their kids would like for Christmas.
SPOILER WARNING: If you are a child and you believe in Santa Claus, stop reading now! Santa is real, so don’t forget to leave him some milk and cookies before you go to bed on Christmas Eve.
Now that that’s out of the way, on to the review.
The app starts you off in a scene with a golden fire, presents, and stockings on the mantel, with “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” playing in the background. Tapping the different elements enable different animations.
Both the snow globe or the “Tell Santa” button will whisk you away to the North Pole.
Knock on the door like an obnoxious trick-or-treater until Santa finally answers it. After a little bit of cheesy dancing around, Santa asks your name. A microphone graphic will show, and you tap and hold it to share your name. Tap it again when Santa asks what you’d like. Finally, answer if you were naughty or nice this year.
SPOILER WARNING: This app is not as it seems on the surface.
Little does your child know, but the app begins recording audio the moment Santa appears. Holding down the microphone graphic makes no difference about recording or not.
A button on the main screen will take you to a gift list (after you press it for three seconds to “unlock” it). A list of audio recordings can either be played back or sent as a .wav file in an email.
While I get that this is a sneaky way to have your children record what they would like for Christmas, it does seem a little sketchy; as if there is a reel-to-reel recorder on the other side of the one-way mirror. The app also lacks more interactive elements; tapping things to engage animations doesn’t constitute genuine interactivity.
It’d also be nice if the Santa in this app had some kind of Siri-like quality, actually using the name provided, or generating a typed list of presents. But that might be asking for too much, considering how bad I’ve been this year.
UPDATE: While I had initially given this app a two star review, I believe I was hasty in doing so and that the rating did not align with my overall review. The rating has been changed to three stars. Thank you to those who commented for sharing your concern.
