Santa tracker 2023 live: how to follow Santa with Google or Norad
It's starting to look a lot like Christmas, and we're already getting into the festive spirit here at Ny Breaking! While it's still quite early for Santa to take action, we have a direct link to his workshop and are here to bring you the latest festive updates as the holiday approaches.
St. Nick will depart in just a few hours on its journey around the world, starting at the International Date Line December 24 and through the South Pacific, then to New Zealand and Australia, followed by Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and finally Central and South America. We're tracking his every move live around the world using the two most popular trackers, NORAD and Google, and bringing you live updates as St. Nick makes his way around the world.
In line with the 2023 theme 'AI everywhere', we also asked Midjourney to capture some images of the great man himself as he travels the world celebrating different regional traditions. They are only slightly cursed.
Fun Fact: Following Santa Claus is a tradition that dates back almost 70 years, but it all started as a happy accident in Christmas 1955. Legend has it that a Sears catalog accidentally gave the phone number for the Colorado Springs Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Center printed in lieu of a Santa Claus hotline in Christmas 1955 and began receiving calls from children hoping to speak to Klaus himself.
The tradition of seeing where Santa Claus crosses the world began in 1955 when, according to legend, a child mistakenly named Colorado Springs' Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Center after a misprint in a Sears catalog for an issue that he had to call to talk to Santa.
Realizing this was a PR dream, the US military began issuing press releases every year about Santa's whereabouts, including comedic stories, while the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) took over. A hotline was added in the early 1980s for people to call to find out where he is.
Fast forward to today and there are a number of ways to find out what's going on with Santa – using Google's Santa Tracker in 2004 – and these two are the top ways to look out, in our expert advice.
Santa Tracker: Norad vs. Google
You have two main choices when it comes to following Santa. Both offer different ways to follow along, but it depends on the experience you're looking for.
The original way to follow Santa Claus and, according to some, the best. This website, run by the US military, combines gruff colonels presenting a video about Santa Claus with live, up-to-the-minute information about where the man in the big red suit is.
You can download the app on the App Store or Google Play Storeand from there you will be presented with a number of mini-games to play and you can follow the progress of the current presentation live.
It's a much more rudimentary experience than other trackers out there, and lacks a lot of sophistication and website design.
However, it is also the most popular and has a heartwarming history, as well as an army of volunteers ready to answer your call to find out where Santa is.
NORAD has also added an AI chatbot called Radar to help you spot Santa, but if it bothers you, you can also call +1 (877) HI-NORAD.
How to play the Santa Claus games on mobile?
Every year when we publish this guide, people wonder how to play the games on mobile when the big “PLAY!” The button in the middle of the screen sometimes fails and only gives you random games or video anyway. Well, just go to the Santa tracker site in a mobile browser, click on the three lines in the top left corner and see all the games you can play. (Note: the 'install' option, which tells you to 'Add to Home Screen', does not work on iPhones).
A more recent addition to the Santa Tracker mix, Google's Santa Tracker has been around since 2004 and combines the power of Google Maps with the smart knowledge of where Santa is.
While Google doesn't have the same satellite tracking power as NORAD, you have to assume the search giant has made a deal with the North Pole to figure out where it is in real time using search and radar and lasers and… all that. . Don't ask us to interpret the magic.
To back up the Santa Tracker, you can play a slew of mini-games, as well as a website that encourages kids to learn coding for a month while encountering a winter wonderland.
There are some pro-Google tool moments in this Santa Tracker – the Quick Draw game is designed to teach Google how to improve image recognition Tensor, which feels a little strange – but it's a beautifully designed site and perhaps the most visually accessible way to to follow Santa Claus.
You can download the app via the Google Play Storebut in our view the mobile site is just as good and accessible for iPhone users, and Google's Santa Tracker also has the best and easiest to use desktop experience.