In this article, we’ll take a close look at some of the Christmas related Augmented Reality apps available for you on the App Store. Christmas is less than a month away and I’m sure some of you are searching for some iOS Christmas Augmented Reality apps, so I made this article especially for you.
These apps are listed in no particular order.
Deck Your Halls (Freeform) – My Top Pick!
Deck Your Halls is a fantastic AR Christmas experience that helps bring the Christmas spirit to every home. There are lots of props to choose from, some are animated and interactive. I personally wished there was a way to save the scene and have more interactive props. The app works flawlessly and adapts to in any room size. A must-have Christmas app, download it now!
Check out my full review of Deck Your Halls.
Dr. Panda AR Christmas Tree (Cr. Panda Ltd)
Dr. Panda AR Christmas Tree is like its name suggests, it allows you to spawn a Christmas tree in Augmented Reality and decorate it to your liking. This is an ARKit app, which means it requires iPhone 6s/6s Plus or newer or iPad Pro or iPad (2017) in order to play. I really liked the 3D model of the tree, it’s rounded with nice subtle color gradation. You can resize, make it small or large depends on where you want it to be.
Decorating the tree is very simple, just drag the decorations from the menu onto the tree and that’s it. There are a total of 27 different ornaments which will be added every day until Christmas. You can even take a picture and share the holiday spirit with friends and family members. Reall well down Christmas iOS AR app, one of the better ones out there in my opinion.
You can download this AR app from the App Store here.
Christmas AR Tree (Dardari Multimedia)
In Christmas AR tree like its name suggests, you can drop a Christmas tree into the real world in AR. The app also allows you to add a dancing Santa Claus and take a photo or record a video of the AR scene as well. I liked the falling snow effect and background music which is really nice. That being said, the graphics quality isn’t great and I didn’t like the 3D design of the tree. The scene itself is also quite dark for some reason. The advantage of this app versus the previous one is the music, the snow effect and the ability to add Santa to the scene as well.
You can download this AR app from the App Store here.
Saving Christmas AR (Wulum Ltd)
Saving Christmas AR is an Augmented Reality ARKit game where the player needs to guide a Christmas Sleight Drone and help Santa bring joy to the world by dropping gift onto floating trees. You guide the sleight drone over a lovely snowy town which looks really nice in AR. You have limited time and you need to deliver as many gifts as possible before Christmas is over. A very simple AR game for kids.
You can download this AR app from the App Store here.
Augmented Christmas Tree (Bo Kalvslund)
Augmented Christmas tree us a very simple Christmas tree augmented reality ARKit ap which allows you to put a beautiful Christmas tree in your living room surrounded by gifts. You can also click on the gifts to hear Christmas sounds and see some nice visual effects come out from each one. The tree is resizable as well, so you can fit in in any place in the living room. This is one of the most beautiful and decorated 3D Christmas trees I’ve seen among AR apps. There is also a camera button that allows you to take quick snaps.
You can download this AR app from the App Store here.
Christmas Game AR (Jean-Marc Kampol Mieville)
This is, in my opinion, a badly designed ARKit game, yet, it’s all about Christmas so I’ve included it on my list. The game plays like a snake game. You need to tap to rotate the Christmas Sleight to collect gift that randomly spawns in the arena while avoiding the surrounding walls. The game features nice falling snow and sound effects and has a cheerful Christmas vibe to it
You can download this AR app from the App Store here.
Pocket Snow Storm! (Useless Creations Pty Ltd)
Pocket Snow Storm is an augmented reality snow cam app that allows you to create your own private blizzard no matter where you are. There are 3 levels of a storm and you can even decide which type of snow to render on screen: basic snow, shaded snow, and cartoon-style snow. You can also take photos using both the rear or the front selfie camera.
You can download this AR app from the App Store here.
Santa Everywhere! (Useless Creations Pty Ltd)
An Augmented Reality app created using Vuforia, where users can get to see Santa Claus flying in his sleigh through the snow all around you. Just look up and see him traveling through the skies all over the place. You can also double tap to zoom in and see close up detailed of the reindeer.
You can download this AR app from the App Store here.
AR Xmas Tree (PT. Langit Biru Arjuna)
AR Xmas Tree is an Augmented Reality app that allows users to put Christmas trees and other types of Christmas related decorations anywhere you like. The app also features a built-in camera app that gives users the option to take a snapshot or record a video of their decoration. When filming videos, it can also record your voice through the mic and add Music from your Apple music library.
You can download this AR app from the App Store here.
Christmas Fun AR (Get Qurious Inc.)
Probably one of the most impressive realistic virtual Christmas tree AR apps out there. Putting a Christmas tree in AR never felt so realistic and convincing. The decorations look really nice, the tree blends beautifully with the natural lighting of the environment and color options is very eye-catching and beautiful to watch.
Read our full review of Christmas Fun AR app.
Santa VS Zombies (Clay Weishaar)
Santa VS Zombies is an ARKit first-person shooter featuring a Christmas theme with zombies earing Santa’s hat. The game’s visuals and shooting experience feel good but there is nothing that motivates the player to keep on playing it, let alone that the game is not challenging whatsoever. The game is very laggy (on my iPad) due to heavy use of special effects and graphics filters. I recommend playing it just to see how the snow effect look when played in a snowy area. If you’ve tried that, send me a photo if you don’t mind 🙂
Read our full review of Santa VS Zombies AR app.
Bag It, Santa! AR
Bag It, Santa! AR is among those little AR games that just come to you as a great surprise. I found this physics-based game to be fun, amusing and insanely addicting. What a great ARKit app for greeting Christmas. It’s a game for all ages and I think everyone, a child or an adult, will enjoy playing it. Challenge your friends to see who gets the highest score. A must-have game for Christmas and beyond—Highly Recommended!
Read our full review of Bag It, Santa! AR game.
All of these apps are free in the app store. There are of course paid apps as well. I will add more apps every day so you can stay up-to-date with the best and latest Augmented Reality (AR) apps for Christmas 2017. This list will include both ARKit and AR Apps created with other AR frameworks. I hope you have fun with it and please don’t forget to share it with your friends and don’t forget Like our Facebook page and YouTube channel.