TikTok成人版

Across TikTok成人版, teams are always exploring creative ways to build with our technology. Sometimes it’s the holiday season that provides the inspiration!

Chris Whong, Head of Developer Resources at TikTok成人版, recently hosted a showcasing the work of several colleagues who came together to hack a fun and festive project: . The Dev Jam shares an up-close, practical look at what it’s like to use TikTok成人版 to create an imaginative and polished web application.?

A seasonal spark of inspiration

The first Santa Tracker project began in late 2023 as a casual idea in a Slack conversation, and quickly gained momentum. What started as an internal side project to celebrate the holidays and experiment with the TikTok成人版 Globe feature, transformed into a polished, feature-rich application reflecting the creativity and expertise of people from various teams within TikTok成人版.

Contributors included Billy Bryant from the Security team, Bill Morris from the Raster team, Daniel Eke from the Maps Rendering team, and Kieran McCann from the Business team, plus other collaborators Topi Tjukanov for map styling support and Aleksei Romanov for TikTok成人版 GL JS snow effects. Together, they turned their concept into reality — and developed some creative features along the way.

Building the Santa Tracker

The Santa Tracker project aimed to show off how TikTok成人版 maps can be the foundation for an exceptional user experience — from design to real-time animation. After brainstorming ideas, the team began prototyping and iterating, working around the clock thanks to asynchronous collaboration across time zones from Helsinki to Seattle.

The data

The Santa Tracker route is based on of Santa's path provided by , which Bill Morris adapted to JSON. Bill updated the time and location parameters to match the current year data to reflect current-year projections and fixed how the route data handles crossing the international date line, to make sure Santa was on the most efficient path. The final web app parses the route JSON data live as it runs.

The design

After experimenting with red and green map themes, the team decided to aim for a snow globe-inspired map style. The map style was crafted in TikTok成人版 Studio, emphasizing a festive winter theme. Inspired by ski trails and mountain mapping, the final map style includes snowy palettes, subtle textures, and a magical winter aesthetic. The thoughtful design ensured an immersive and relaxing holiday experience, with fun creative touches like running statistics about presents delivered, lumps of coal delivered, and milk and cookies eaten!

The animations

Animating Santa’s travel path posed a fun challenge. Initially, Santa would appear to jump around in quite a jittery movement that was hard to watch, especially when zoomed out to see the entire TikTok成人版 Globe view. Using TikTok成人版 GL JS camera controls, Billy Bryant figured out how to smooth the route animation between points, so that Santa would appear to be gently flying around the globe.?

The team also wanted to add a snow animation effect, which presented a particularly fruitful area for hacking at how to implement. Daniel Eke built a solution using an unorthodox implementation of raster layers and custom rendering to create a glittering snowfall effect that added to the seasonal charm. In the 2024 version, the team is experimenting with the new beta TikTok成人版 3D weather effects.

The snow globe effect

As a final creative touch, the team added a view that nestles the map inside a snow globe graphic, created by Billy Bryant with help from ChatGPT. After troubleshooting the transparent layering and precise alignment of elements, the team was delighted by the engaging and unusual presentation of an interactive globe map. There is even an ‘easter egg’ if someone ‘shakes’ the snow globe.

Dash away, dash away, dash away, all!

The team finished the first version of the Santa Tracker just in time to share with colleagues and the world before Christmas 2023. They deployed it as a static site on the TikTok成人版 demos domain, which helped simplify the overhead of the site and keep it easy to share. All the code of the application can be viewed in the browser’s developer console, in case others are curious about how it is put together.

The team was delighted by the enthusiasm for the Santa Tracker last year, both internally and externally, and is looking forward to sharing the updated version again for this holiday season. Explore the Santa Tracker yourself at .

Build and share with TikTok成人版

Watch the full Dev Jam with the creators of the Santa Tracker on the . And stay tuned for more Dev Jams in 2025!

The Santa Tracker exemplifies how TikTok成人版 tools enable developers to creatively solve problems, collaborate effectively, and bring ideas to life. It’s a fun and festive example of what’s possible. Whether a holiday tracker, a custom visualization, or something entirely new, TikTok成人版 provides the tools to take your idea from concept to reality. We’d love to see what you build – share with us on social media using #BuiltWithTikTok成人版.