Support — Dear Santa
Questions, problems, or something not working? Email hello@jagganaut.com and a real person will reply.
How it works, in one paragraph
When a child sees a toy they love, photograph it in the app. The picture goes onto their wish list, and Santa writes back — letters that mention their pet, the things they love, and the toys they have shown him. Grown-ups can steer all of it from a PIN-protected area the child never sees.
Letters
When does Santa write?
It depends on the time of year:
- November and December — at the pace you choose: twice a week, once a week, or only when you write one yourself.
- Christmas morning — always, whatever the schedule says.
- The rest of the year — about once a month. Quieter letters: no nice list, no counting down, and he mentions the toy they last showed him.
You can change the day and time in the parent area.
How does Santa know about their dog?
Because you told him. In the parent area you can enter something each child loves and a pet’s name, and add a private note for him to mention — “helped with the dishes”, “lost a tooth”. He weaves those in. He never invents anything you have not entered.
Can I write a letter myself?
Yes — that is what the optional unlock adds. Open the parent area, choose Write a letter as Santa, and it arrives sealed and identical to one of his own. Send it “right now” and it waits a couple of minutes before appearing, so it never materialises while you are holding the phone.
A letter hasn’t arrived
Open the app — letters are worked out when you open it, so one that was due will appear. If you expected a notification and did not get one, check that notifications are allowed for Dear Santa in your phone’s settings. Android sometimes delays these by a few minutes to save battery; the letter itself is always on time inside the app.
The parent area
Where is it?
Tap the ⚙ in the corner of the camera screen and enter your PIN.
I have forgotten my PIN
There is no way to recover it, and we cannot reset it for you. The PIN never leaves your phone and we have no copy of it — that is the same design decision that means we cannot see your child’s photos either.
The only way back in is uninstalling and reinstalling the app, which deletes everything stored: children, photos, wishes and letters. If you have bought the unlock, that is not lost — reinstall, open the parent area and choose Restore.
If you can still get in, you can change your PIN at any time: parent area → Change my PIN.
How do I delete everything?
Parent area → Delete all data. It asks once to be sure, then removes every child, photo, wish and letter permanently. Uninstalling the app does the same thing.
The unlock
What is free, and what costs money?
Free: as many children as you like, unlimited wishes and photos, letters from Santa all year including Christmas morning, and letters your children write back. No ads, no time limit.
The one-off unlock adds the grown-up controls: writing letters as Santa yourself, telling him something only you know, setting how each child is doing on the nice list, and choosing when letters arrive.
I paid, but I’ve changed phone
Open the parent area, tap the unlock banner, and choose Restore. As long as the new phone is signed in to the same Google or Apple account, it will come back. You are never charged twice.
It says the store isn’t reachable
That usually means no internet connection, or a phone where Google Play services are unavailable. Everything else in the app keeps working; try the purchase again when you are back online.
Privacy and safety
Where do my child’s photos go?
Nowhere. They stay on the phone. Dear Santa has no accounts, no servers and no analytics, and we have no way to see anything inside it. The full detail is in the privacy policy.
Does it need the internet?
No. It works on a plane, in the car, and in a shop with no signal. The only thing that ever needs a connection is buying or restoring the unlock.
Is there anything my child could tap through to?
No. There are no adverts, no links out of the app, and no way for a child to contact anyone. The only purchase sits behind the parent PIN.
Still stuck?
Email hello@jagganaut.com. It helps to say which phone you are using and what you were doing when it went wrong — and please do not send screenshots containing your children’s names or photos unless they are needed.