3 Christmas apps to help you forget about how terrible finals were

Another day, another dollar.  Or rather, another semester, another several thousand dollars’ tuition.  Finals have ended (if they haven’t…my sympathies, and godspeed, my friend) and most undergrads have left campus for a few weeks of R&R.  Maybe you’ll apply to grad school or search for jobs over break—in between watching Archer and bookmarking cookie recipes, that is.  For at least a few days, it’s crash time.

With academics on hold for a little while, what’s one to do while waiting in lines at the mall and spending hours in transit between home, university, and relatives’ houses?  Play with your phone, of course!  Here’s the lowdown on some seasonal apps*:

1. Christmas Cookie Maker.  Create your own digital confection!  Be warned that manual labor is involved—you have to mix ingredients yourself with a swirl of the finger, and then wait a whole thirty seconds for the goodies to “bake”—but there is plenty of fun to be had.  Numerous cookie shapes and frosting colors provide the tools to make the Santa Smurf or darling angel of your dreams.  Additional non-holiday shapes allow you to make…say…a gift-bearing T-rex surrounded by bees AND snowflakes.  Because that’s  logical.

Bees in winter? Oh, the seasonal confusion….

Aside from being entertaining even without the for-a-fee unlockables, the Christmas cookie maker can e-mail your handiwork or publish it on Facebook, so everyone knows just how productive you’ve been since handing in that last paper.

2. White Christmas: Slightly reminiscent of GameBoy Camera (remember that? anyone?) in that you can photograph yourself or others with silly graphical add-ons. A user-friendly start screen tells you everything you need to know.  Then, it’s time to add objects: pick from custom text, reindeer flying overhead, TWO different polar bear hats, and snowglobe effects, including one mimicking “real” snow.  A swipe of the finger allows you to rotate items or change their size.  Like the Cookie Maker, White Christmas can send images to Facebook or e-mail, allowing you to share what you’ve, um, accomplished thus far over your winter vacation.

3.  Christmas Piano: Christmas Piano allows amateur musicians to try their hand at playing selected Christmas carols.  You have two options: sing-along, in which case a piano track plays as lyrics appear on the screen (think of a portable yuletide karaoke program); and play-along, in which light-up onscreen keys and a musical score help you work through “Jingle Bells” or even “Deck the Halls.”  While playing along is sometimes more frustrating than fun, especially on both-hands mode, getting the melodies down produces a nifty sense of accomplishment, especially for us ex-band geeks who haven’t read music since high school.

*I understand not everyone celebrates Christmas.  Hanukkah has come and gone, but who still wish to celebrate might enjoy Light My Fire.  This app from The Jewish Museum provides blessings in English and Hebrew, and allows users to create digital menorahs.  Dreidel Labyrinth, a ball-in-the-hole game that incorporates elements of traditional dreidel play, is also worth checking out.  Stephen Jones’s Kwanzaa app provides daily affirmations reflecting the holiday’s seven principles; themes such as “Self-Determination” and “Cooperative Economics” are worth contemplating, regardless of your ethnic background.  Swahili pronunciations and a kinara lighting guide round out the package, if you’re interested.

As for Festivus…uh…I got nothing, and neither does the App Store. Don’t say I didn’t try.

Whatever you celebrate, dear Uloop readers, I wish you the happiest of holidays.