(…and the annual New Year’s Day spike we all know is coming)
We all know Christmas changes our eating habits, our sleep patterns… even our tolerance for festive films. But one thing people rarely think about is how Christmas changes the way we use our mobile phones.
The period between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day turns out to be one of the most unusual, unpredictable periods in the entire app economy. Some apps go quiet, some explode, and others enjoy a brief but glorious moment in the spotlight.
Here’s a closer look at how we use apps when the world slows down and the mince pies come out.
1. Property Browsing Becomes a National Pastime
You might expect the property market to hibernate over Christmas, but Boxing Day is actually the busiest day of the year for apps like Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket. Once the presents are opened and the leftovers settle, families finally sit down together, relax… and immediately start rethinking their life decisions.
This quiet, reflective downtime seems to be the perfect moment for people to browse “just to see what’s out there.” Estate agents know this so well that many now hold back new listings to release specifically on 26th December, when attention is at its peak.
2. The Great “Unwanted Gift” Purge
Another Christmas tradition is the sudden urge to declutter. By the afternoon of Christmas Day, people start sorting through old items to make space for new ones, and that’s when resale platforms really come into their own. Vinted, Depop, eBay and Facebook Marketplace often see a sharp upswing between 25th–27th December, as people quietly list gifts that weren’t quite their taste, or sell older items replaced by presents.
There’s something strangely energising about organising and offloading things during this odd in-between week. That desire to start the new year feeling lighter turns resale apps into some of the most active platforms of the entire month.
3. Budgeting Gets Serious Very Quickly
Christmas spending is joyful… until the moment it’s not. Finance apps like Monzo, Starling, Emma and Plum see a noticeable rise in logins as users survey the state of their festive finances.
People check what they’ve spent, settle shared costs, and begin sketching out budgets for January, especially as thoughts turn to the looming return to normal life. In fact, many budgeting apps say the final week of December is consistently one of their busiest for people setting fresh savings goals or starting new money routines.
4. Streaming Becomes the Modern Christmas TV Tradition
Gone are the days of checking the Radio Times, circling your favourites and planning the family’s entire Christmas Day around whatever was on TV at a particular time.
Streaming apps have completely transformed that ritual, becoming the new way we build our festive viewing schedules. Services like BBC iPlayer, Netflix and Disney+ show clear activity peaks over Christmas.
A big surge on Christmas evening as everyone sinks into the sofa after lunch, and another on Boxing Day morning when families settle in for films, specials and nostalgic favourites. It’s still a shared cultural moment, just reimagined: instead of gathering for one scheduled programme, we all curate our own line-ups.
And the old habit hasn’t vanished entirely, plenty of people still spend Christmas morning hunting down classic holiday specials from their favourite shows, only now they’re searching for them online rather than flicking through a magazine with a highlighter.
5. The Christmas Day Social Catch-Up Drives Video Call Highs
One of the most predictable global digital behaviours happens on Christmas Day: a late-afternoon surge in video calls. Apps like WhatsApp, FaceTime, Messenger and Zoom tend to hit their highest usage between roughly 2pm and 6pm.
It’s the moment when people have finished Christmas dinner and start calling relatives who aren’t physically present, grandparents, friends abroad, cousins scattered around the country. Even as communication trends evolve, this seasonal spike stays remarkably consistent year after year.
6. Weather Checks Become a National Obsession
You wouldn’t think of weather apps as seasonal stars, but they become essential over Christmas for one very specific reason: everyone is checking for snow. Christmas Eve and Boxing Day are two of the most-searched days of the year for forecasts, fuelled by the hope (however unrealistic), that a white Christmas might still appear. Even in years when snow is nowhere on the horizon, the surge in “will it snow today?” searches shows just how deeply that festive wish still lingers
Once the snow question is settled, people turn to practicalities: whether travel will be safe, if the roads are icy, and whether they can bundle the kids outside for a family walk or let them test out their new bikes, scooters or hover boards.
And then there’s the…
New Year Fitness Spike
And while Christmas week has its own distinctive rhythms, there’s one digital pattern that waits patiently for the fireworks: the annual surge in fitness apps. On 1st January, downloads of running trackers, workout planners and calorie counters jump sharply as people decide this is the year they’ll finally stick to a routine. It’s a moment of collective optimism, the digital equivalent of fresh starts and new notebooks, but as every fitness platform quietly knows, that burst of enthusiasm rarely turns into long-term usage.
What This Means for Businesses and Their Mobile Needs
Christmas week doesn’t just shift personal app habits — it also changes the way people use their business mobiles. With so many employees working remotely, travelling between family homes, or dipping in and out of work messages, companies often see a rise in mobile data usage and out-of-hours connectivity during the festive period. For businesses, it’s a good reminder of how important the right business mobile plan, data allowances and device reliability are at this time of year. Even when the office is closed, a well-structured business mobile solution keeps teams responsive, connected and supported.
