Call Santa, write to him and peek inside the North Pole
North Pole HQ is a Christmas app for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. Your child can talk to Santa on the phone or a video call, write to him in the Mail Room, open his Advent Calendar and follow his sleigh on Christmas Eve.
There are no ads, no tracking and no accounts, in the free version as well as the North Pole Pass.
Coming soon to the App Store
Everything starts at Santa’s cabin
Open North Pole HQ and you’re outside Santa’s cabin in the snow, with smoke curling from the chimney. The big green button calls Santa, and the four below it open the Mail Room, the North Pole Cams, the Advent Calendar and the Sleigh Tracker.
Everything for grown-ups, including your children’s names and calls from Santa at a time you choose, sits behind a PIN, so little fingers can’t wander into it.
Call Santa
Talk to Santa on the phone or a video call, or let him ring you.
Message Santa
Your child writes, and Santa writes back.
North Pole Cams
Four rooms at the North Pole to peek into.
Advent Calendar
A door a day in December, with Santa behind each one.
Sleigh Tracker
Follow Santa around the world on Christmas Eve.
Call Santa, or let Santa call you
Santa Speed Dial puts your child straight through to Santa, on the phone or face to face on a video call. He says their name, mentions the things they love and asks them questions, then waits for them to answer before he carries on.
Santa listens only to know when your child has finished talking, so he doesn’t interrupt. He never understands the words: the microphone can only tell that someone’s talking, not what they’re saying.
With the North Pole Pass, Santa can ring them instead. Choose a phone or video call and a time in the grown-ups’ area, put the phone down nearby, and it rings. If you’d like to hear a call again later, switch on Keep call recordings and each one is kept on your phone, as sound only.
Each child gets one free call every Christmas, and the Pass has unlimited calls. On Christmas Eve, while Santa’s out delivering, calls are patched through to the sleigh.
Well now, I had a feeling you might ring. Hello! This is Santa.
Write to Santa in the Mail Room
Your child types a message and Santa writes back, full of news from the workshop, usually with a question to keep the chat going. His replies are chosen on your phone, so nothing your child types is ever sent to us.
Santa never promises presents. If your child asks for something, it goes in his big book, and he never knows what will turn up until Christmas morning.
Chats are saved on your phone and in your own iCloud backup, for your child to read again. The free version has 5 messages a day, and with the Pass your child can write as much as they like.
- Your child:do you play video games
- Santa:Not me! My favourite game is snowball races with the reindeer, though I usually fall over first. What’s your favourite game?
- Your child:can I have a bike for christmas
- Santa:What a wish! It’s written in my big book. I can’t say what will turn up, as the magic never tells me. Do you like snow?
Peek inside the North Pole on Santa’s cams
Four cams look into Santa’s world: Santa resting by his fire, the elves busy in the Toy Workshop, the reindeer in their stable and the letters piling up in the Mail Room.
Each one opens full screen with its sound on. Swipe, or move your phone, to look around the room, and pinch to look closer.
Santa’s Fireside is free, and the North Pole Pass opens all four. On Christmas Eve, his armchair sits empty while he’s out delivering.
Santa’s Fireside
Toy Workshop
Reindeer Stable
Mail Room
An Advent Calendar with Santa behind every door
From 1 December, a new door opens every day. Tap it and it swings open, and Santa pops up with a joke or a fact about life at the North Pole, with his words on screen.
On Christmas Eve he says goodnight, and on Christmas Day there’s one more message from him. Until 1 December, the elves are busy filling the doors.
The free version opens the first door your child chooses, and the Pass opens all 25.
Follow Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve, the Sleigh Tracker follows Santa around the world on a map of the night. Your child can watch the presents delivered add up, see where he’s stopping next and how long until he’s near your town, and hear Santa say what he can see as he flies.
Around midnight he stops about 12 miles from your town for a mince pie. He can’t deliver while anyone’s awake, as it would spoil the magic, so he waits there until the early hours. By morning, the tracker shows he’s been while everyone was asleep. It never gives an exact time, so nobody’s tempted to stay up for him.
A bedtime reminder can make sure everyone’s tucked up in time. You choose your town in the grown-ups’ area: it stays on your devices, and we never ask for your location.
Before Christmas Eve, the elves are polishing the sleigh in its shed, and the countdown shows the sleeps until Christmas, in the app and in a widget for your Home Screen and Lock Screen.
North Pole HQ on Apple TV
On the big screen, the whole family can watch the North Pole Cams, open the Advent Calendar together and follow the Sleigh Tracker on Christmas Eve.
Santa’s Voicemail is just for Apple TV. Santa rang while you were out and left your family a video message, with your children’s names in it. The first one is free, and with the Pass there’s a new one every day in December.
Calls and messages stay on iPhone and iPad, as the TV doesn’t listen. One North Pole Pass covers all three, and your family’s details come across through your own iCloud.
There are no ads, no tracking and no accounts
That goes for the free version as well as the Pass. Your family’s details stay on your own devices and in your own iCloud, where we can’t see them. Our privacy notice has the detail.
Santa only listens for a pause
On a call, the microphone only tells when someone’s talking, and that happens on your phone. Nothing your child says is understood or sent anywhere, and calls are only recorded if you switch on Keep call recordings.
Messages are never sent to us
Santa’s replies in the Mail Room are chosen on your phone, so nothing your child types is sent anywhere. Saved chats stay on the device and in your own iCloud backup.
Your family’s details stay at home
We never receive your children’s names, ages or interests, your town or your PIN. They stay on your devices and in your own iCloud, so your iPhone, iPad and Apple TV all know them.
On a video call, your child’s picture appears on their own screen and is never recorded or sent. The cams use your phone’s motion sensors only to move the picture, and that all happens on the phone.
Everything opens with the North Pole Pass
The free version has a little of everything. The Pass opens the rest for the whole family: unlimited calls with Santa, video calls and calls from Santa at a time you choose, all four cams, every Advent Calendar door, unlimited messages to Santa and a new voicemail every day in December on Apple TV.
£2.99 for the first year
then £4.99 a year
The Pass is a yearly subscription through the App Store, and the first-year price is for new subscribers. It renews at £4.99 a year unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the year ends, and you can cancel any time in your device’s Settings, under Subscriptions. Family Sharing is included. Prices are for the UK, and the App Store shows yours before you buy.
Coming soon to the App Store
Admit the whole family
North Pole
Pass
The free version and the Pass, side by side
Santa never mentions money to your child. Anything that needs the Pass looks closed in the story, with frosted doors and cams that are offline, and a quiet “For grown-ups” link leads to the PIN.
| Feature | Free | Pass |
|---|---|---|
| Calls with Santa | 1 each Christmas | Unlimited |
| Video calls | No | Yes |
| Scheduled Santa calls | No | Yes |
| North Pole Cams | 1 | All 4 |
| Advent doors | 1 | All 25 |
| Messages to Santa | 5 a day | Unlimited |
| Apple TV voicemail | 1 | One a day in December |
| Sleigh Tracker and countdown | Yes | Yes |
Questions about North Pole HQ
The help page answers more questions, such as how to set up a call from Santa or cancel the Pass, and says how to get in touch.
Which devices does North Pole HQ work on?
iPhone with iOS 17 or later, iPad with iPadOS 17 or later, and Apple TV with tvOS 17 or later. It’s one app on the App Store, so the North Pole Pass covers all three, and Family Sharing is included.
Calls and Message Santa are on iPhone and iPad, because they need a microphone and a keyboard. The cams, the Advent Calendar, the Sleigh Tracker and Santa’s Voicemail are on Apple TV.
Does Santa hear what my child says?
No. On a call, the microphone only tells when someone’s talking, not what they’re saying, so Santa knows when your child has finished and carries on. It all happens on your phone. Nothing your child says is understood or sent anywhere, and it’s only kept if you switch on call recordings.
Santa listens only so he doesn’t interrupt. If you’d rather he didn’t listen at all, switch off Let Santa listen in the grown-ups’ area, under Calls, and he leaves a little gap for your child to answer instead.
Will Santa say my child’s name?
Santa says any name we’ve recorded, and there are more than 1,000 of them. For other names he says “my friend”, with the name written on screen. When you type your child’s name in the grown-ups’ area, it tells you straight away whether Santa can say it.
What can we use for free?
One call with Santa for each child every Christmas, with room for 5 children; Santa’s Fireside cam; the first Advent Calendar door your child opens; 5 messages to Santa a day; and the Sleigh Tracker and countdown. On Apple TV, Santa’s first voicemail is free too.
The North Pole Pass opens everything else. It costs £2.99 for the first year, then £4.99 a year, and neither version has ads.
Will Santa promise my child a present?
No. Santa never promises presents, in calls or in messages. If your child asks for something, he writes it in his big book and says he never knows what will turn up until Christmas morning, so nobody’s let down.
Does Santa talk about religion?
No. Santa is for children of all faiths and none, and he never brings up religion. If a child asks him about God or Jesus, he says that families believe different things and that a grown-up they trust can tell them more. A family that doesn’t celebrate Christmas is just as welcome.
Can more than one child use it?
Yes. Add each child in the grown-ups’ area with their name, age and the things they love, and whoever’s calling chooses their name before Santa answers. On the free version there’s room for 5 children, each with their own free call every Christmas, and the Pass has room for everyone.