Features

Chat with Santa and his elves by text or photo

Santa Wishlist lets you chat with Santa and his elves by text or by photo. Take a picture in the aisle, choose one from your gallery, or type what your kid just said, and add a note for Santa if you like. Santa replies in a few seconds, in character and matched to your child's age, using their name if you added it.

• Every kid gets their own Santa chat. Name, age and avatar are all optional
• Quick questions kids can tap, like "Are the reindeer ready?" or "What do elves eat?"
• A text uses 1 Candy Cane and a photo uses 2
• Copy any reply to keep it or send it on
• Santa never promises a gift. He says the elves are taking a look or that he has made a note

A hidden gift list that fills itself

Santa Wishlist keeps a hidden gift list for each kid, and the elves fill it for you. When you send a photo of a toy, the item is logged with its picture, its name, an estimated price and the store when the app can tell. The list opens only with your Secret Elf PIN, or with Face ID or Touch ID on phones that have them.

• Mark items Got it as you buy them, add a note, or delete an item
• Export a list as plain text and send it to anyone
• The list locks itself again after two minutes
• If you forget your PIN, reset it with your account password. Your lists stay
• Your lists and photos are never deleted because your balance reaches zero

Family sharing for co-parents and grandparents

Santa Wishlist lets one family share an account. The owner can invite co-parents and grandparents (called family helpers), up to 4 people in all. Everyone signs in with their own login and their own Parent PIN, sees the same kids, chats and gift list, and shares one Candy Cane balance and one Season Pass.

• Invite by link or by an 8 character code. An invite works for 7 days and you can revoke it any time
• The app offers the invite right after you add your first kid, and any time in Settings under Family
• A co-parent can do everything the owner can, except delete the family account
• A family helper can chat with Santa, see and edit the list, upload photos and buy Candy Canes, but cannot add or change kids or invite people
• Each person picks a name, like Mom, Dad or Grandma Sue, so the chat shows who wrote each message

Magic effects and sounds

Santa Wishlist adds a little magic to some of Santa's replies. An effect plays once when the reply arrives, such as a sleigh flying by, a dancing snowman, a peeking elf, a snow burst, northern lights, a dropped gift, cookie crumbs, a twinkling star, a reindeer nose or a ringing bell.

• Effects fit what Santa is talking about, and a small replay button on the reply plays it again
• Sounds and falling snow each have an on and off switch in Settings
• Effects show as still pictures for people who use Reduce Motion on their phone

Share cards of Santa's replies

Santa Wishlist can turn a Santa reply into a share card, as a square picture or a story size picture, with a link anyone can open. Only Santa's reply goes on the card. Your gift list never does.

• Your kid's first name is off unless you turn it on
• A photo is included only if you turn it on for that card, with a reminder to check for faces and name tags
• Anyone with the link can see the card, and you can turn a link off at any time
• Sharing is a grown-up step, so a child cannot post by accident

Friend codes

Santa Wishlist gives every parent a friend code and link. When a friend signs up with it and sends Santa a first message, you both get 10 Candy Canes. Find it in Settings under Invite a friend.

• Share the link from your phone or copy it
• Candy Canes work inside Santa Wishlist only and have no cash value

Safety checks and reporting

Santa Wishlist checks every message with automated safety filters, both on the way to Santa and on the way back. You hold the phone, there is no open chat and no strangers, and there are no ads. Photos stay private and are deleted when you delete your account.

• Report any reply from the reply menu: not kid-friendly, mentioned something it should not, or other, with an optional note
• A blocked reply shows a safe fallback, adds nothing to the list and costs nothing
• Santa's replies are generated by AI. The app says so on the welcome screen, in Settings and on this site

Settings that keep you in charge

Santa Wishlist puts the controls in Settings. Sign in with Apple, Google or email (with a 6 digit code). The parent confirms they are 18 or older, and a child never needs an account.

• Change your Secret Elf PIN and turn Face ID or Touch ID on or off
• Send feedback with a star rating and a screenshot, straight to the team
• Manage purchases and restore them on a new phone
• Read the privacy policy and terms inside the app
• Delete your account and everything in it, or just your own login if you joined a family

10 free messages, then packs or a Season Pass

Santa Wishlist gives you 10 free messages to start. After that you can buy Candy Cane packs ($2.99 to $9.99) or the Whole Season Pass for $19.99: 1,200 messages to use any time until Dec 31. One pass covers the whole family. Nothing renews.

• A photo counts as 2 messages and a text counts as 1
• When the pass is used up, the family keeps chatting with Candy Canes
• Purchases go through the App Store or Google Play, and Restore purchases brings them back on a new phone
• See every price on the pricing page

What Santa Wishlist does not do

• Text and photo only. There are no voice calls or video calls with Santa.
• It is not a Santa tracker and not an office secret santa tool.
• Santa's replies are generated by AI, and automated filters are strong but not perfect, so a parent holds the phone.
• It runs in the iPhone and Android apps. There is no web chat and no web checkout.
• English only for now.