Days to Christmas: Countdown

Days to Christmas is the cozy, calm way to count the sleeps, and to make every day of December a little sensory adventure.

A SNOW GLOBE YOU CAN SHAKE
The countdown lives inside a glass snow globe with a real village in it. Shake your phone and the snow swirls, drag to spin the scene, tap to nudge the flakes, turn the phone over and watch them fall the other way. Hold the glass for the full-screen globe, and keep an eye on the cabin: an elf comes out to wave. A Snow Globe widget puts the number in the glass on your Home Screen, and the Mac gets the same globe with a Shake button.

SENSORY ADVENT CALENDAR: FREE
Behind each of the 24 doors is a simple activity for one of the senses: crunch fake snow, jingle bells, smell a clove orange, taste a candy cane, blow bubbles by the tree lights. Made with autistic and sensory-seeking children in mind, but every family loves them. Nothing to buy: every door is free, and a gentle daily reminder tells you when tonight's door is ready.

SANTA TRACKER & LETTERS TO SANTA
See where Santa is on Christmas Eve and, before that, how far the North Pole is from your country and what time he'll reach you (around 10 p.m., so be asleep). The workshop sends a daily report as the sleeps run down, you can replay the whole flight around the world, and children can write a letter to Santa by speaking or typing it. A few hours later, Santa writes back by hand, and the app can read his letter aloud.

SANTA'S GLOBE, IN YOUR ROOM
Put the world on your table and watch the sleigh fly the route, stop by stop, in augmented reality on iPhone and iPad, or as a globe you can spin with your hands on Apple Vision Pro.

SELFIE WITH SANTA
Pop a Santa hat, beard, glasses or reindeer antlers on everyone in the picture, stand Santa beside you, and share the photo. Faces are found on your device, and nothing is uploaded: the picture only exists if you save or share it.

CHRISTMAS HITS FROM APPLE MUSIC
Twenty-four Christmas hits, from Mariah and Wham! to Slade and Bublé, playing the moment the app opens. With an Apple Music subscription they play in full, even when the phone is locked; without one you hear 30-second previews. Reorder the list, add any song from Apple Music, and share it as a link. Friends with the app get it as a list of its own, and their own list is never changed.

THE COUNTDOWN, EVERYWHERE
• Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets that upd