Wondering how you can track Santa live on his journey of delivering gifts to everyone this Christmas? Thanks to Google and your iOS device, the process is more simple than you thought.

Google Maps

Simply open up Google Maps app on your iPhone or iPad and search for “Santa Claus”. Google will then display his location and also provide you with an option to “visit” that location.

Tapping on the visit icon will lead Google Maps to provide you with more information about Santa’s journey like the total distance travelled, number of gifts he has delivered until now, his next stop and more.

If you don’t have Google Maps installed, you can still track Santa’s location by searching for “Santa Claus” in Safari.

Google first started tracking Santa in 2004. Initially the company used its own Google Earth platform to display Santa’s location. From 2007 to 2011 though, the company worked closely with NORAD. However, in 2012, Google went back to tracking Santa on its own as NORAD started working with Microsoft.

NORAD Santa Tracker

If you don’t like Google’s Santa Tracker, you can use another popular Santa tracking app: NORAD Tracks Santa. The app has been created by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, and is available for both iPhones and iPad. You can also visit the Norad Santa website on Safari on your iPad or iPhone to track Santa’s journey.

There will be a difference in Santa Claus location being displayed on Google Maps and NORAD Tracks Santa. This is because while Google Maps relies on Wi-Fi and network towers to triangulate Santa’s location, NORAD uses satellites and radar.

NORAD or North American Aerospace Defense Command started tracking the location of Santa Claus thanks to a mistake. In 1955, a Sears store accidentally printed the wrong number to call Santa — the number was that of CONAD, NORAD’s predecessor. The CONAD’s went with this mistake and provided Santa’s location to everyone who called them. Since then, NORAD has continued to track Santa every where.