What to read if you need a bit of peace today
Happy Christmas everyone! We hope you’re having a good one, but at some point the traditional festive fatigue is bound to set in. When that happens, the best thing to do is find a quiet corner and curl up with your iPhone or iPad.
We’ve been posting a fair few festive articles recently, many of which suggest ways technology can improve the holidays, or the best apps to help you pass the time. In case you’ve missed any of our recent output, here’s a recap of everything relevant to Christmas Day cheer.
The Very Best
There have been a few lists floating around recently expressing views on the best apps of the year. Firstly, you’ve got Apple’s official take on the best apps and games of 2020. Also worth checking out is the most popular App Store downloads of the year – a very different set of apps.
We’ve got our own opinions on the best of the year, of course, but you’ll have to wait until the very end of the year for those – stay tuned!
Christmas on iOS
We ran our classic six-part roundup series this month covering all kinds of Christmas-related apps, comprising 36 fantastic apps in total. Some of them are only really relevant in the build-up – hopefully you’ve bought all your presents by now! – but other posts in the series are for life, not just for Christmas.
Most useful today will be the best apps for festive fun and the best apps to keep the kids quiet. And if you have much cooking left to do, then check out the best food and drink apps too – those are worth having on your home screen all year round!
Festive Gaming
When all the social stuff is over, we wouldn’t blame you for wanting to settle down with a good videogame. Luckily, we have more options than ever on iOS these days.
If you’ve not checked out Apple Arcade since it launched over a year ago, there’s a lot of new stuff to explore. You can nab a month free if you’ve never trialed it before, or spend $5 for a single month’s unlimited access over the festive period.
Many of those titles can be played with wireless gamepads, so if you have an Xbox or Playstation controller lying around you can connect it directly to an iPhone or iPad via Bluetooth.
Or, if you want to go old school, try one of these four great Chess apps to improve your skills.
New device?
Oh, and if you were lucky enough to get a new iPhone or iPad for Christmas, check out our guide to transferring your files and photos from one device to another.
That’s all for today! However you’re spending the holidays, we wish you the very best. Happy Christmas!