Creating videos from Santa for your kids using the Portable North Pole app and website has become a bit of a craze among parents. Now they can do it on iPad and Android too.

We wrote about the PNP Portable North Pole 2013 app for iPhone earlier this month when it came out, but it’s now been joined by versions for iPad and Android.

As on iPhone, there are two distinct sections to the app: one for parents and one for children. In the parents’ section, you can create the video messages from Santa – each lasts for up to six minutes with 20 “personalisation options”: photos, friends’ names, hobbies etc.

You can also book phone calls from Santa (well, a recorded ‘Santa’) with similar personalisation options. And if you’ve created video messages before, they can all be watched again from within the app.

The Kids’ section includes an interactive advent calendar with videos, puzzles and digital colouring pages, as well as a Christmas Countdown to 25 December, and a radar showing where they are in relation to Santa’s home.

As we noted before, there appear to have been some teething problems with the iPhone version of the app. It’s been getting dozens of one-star reviews on Apple’s App Store claiming people are having problems getting it to work.

Android is a similar story: the app is averaging just two out of five stars on the Google Play store. We’re hoping (for the developers’ sake as well as parents!) that the launch gremlins are ironed out quickly. After all, it’s not long until Christmas now.

PNP - Portable North Pole 2013 HD costs £2.49 for iPad on Apple’s App Store, with in-app purchases used to buy additional credits for use creating video messages. And PNP – Portable North Pole 2013 costs £2.31 for Android on the Google Play store.

Have you been having problems (or, alternatively, having no problems at all) with the Portable North Pole app? Let us know in a comment, as that will help other parents decide whether to buy the app.