There are some iPhone apps that I just don’t get, and Christmas Tree Decorator ($0.99, iTunes link) is one of those apps. It’s a standard ‘decorate a fake tree’ app, and while I love the holiday spirit embodied in this app, and despite its popularity in the App Store, I found it kind of pointless and boring, really.
Christmas Tree Decorator has a very simple premise – decorate a blank Christmas tree with your choice of 36 ornaments, tree toppers and lights. It’s hard to classify Christmas Tree Decorator as a game because there’s really no goal. I guess you could say the “goal” of the app is to move the ornaments and lights into position on the Christmas tree so it looks nice. The ornaments include large bulbs, candy canes and spiral glass ornaments. There are also six different colors of lights.
Once you’re done decorating, you can put a background behind the tree, including a house setting or a snowy river scene. The app also includes three Christmas songs, and you can save your tree as a photo to send it to friends or use as a wallpaper. Once your Christmas tree is done, it’s displayed with a ‘days till Christmas’ countdown.
The sound effects are kind of cute – the bulbs ring and the glass ornaments tinkle, and if you drop an ornament (by dragging it outside the tree) it makes a little shattering sound. The graphics are also well done, and you can add several nice touches like twinkling lights or falling snow.
Conclusion
Overall, I don’t know what to make of Christmas Tree Decorator. I wouldn’t recommend this app for adults, it’s just too boring and after you spend two minutes making one Christmas tree you’ll probably never use it again. While I love the holidays and enjoy anything that helps me get into the Christmas spirit, this app just didn’t do it for me. When I’m using it, I can’t help thinking that the whole thing is kind of pointless. I might be a little more generous if it was free.
That said, I do see where this app could be a good pick for kids, especially with the Christmas countdown. Kids might really like decorating their own tree and saving the photo to send to their friends. So, I would recommend Christmas Tree Decorator for families who are trying to keep their tots occupied during the Christmas break. Older kids might think it’s boring, but younger kids may enjoy decorating their own tree.
Christmas Tree Decorator is a $0.99 download from the iTunes Store.