--- title: "Christmas Countdown for Digital Signage | EasySignage" description: "Add a Christmas countdown to your digital signage. It works out the date itself, shows a greeting on the day, then starts counting to next Christmas." url: https://easysignage.com/help/apps/digital-signage-christmas-countdown/ --- # Christmas Countdown App - [Open in Claude Ask questions about this page](https://claude.ai/new?q=Read+https%3A%2F%2Feasysignage.com%2Fhelp%2Fapps%2Fdigital-signage-christmas-countdown%2F+so+I+can+ask+questions+about+it.) - [Open in ChatGPT Ask questions about this page](https://chatgpt.com/?hints=search&q=Read+https%3A%2F%2Feasysignage.com%2Fhelp%2Fapps%2Fdigital-signage-christmas-countdown%2F+so+I+can+ask+questions+about+it.) The Christmas Countdown app shows how long is left until Christmas on your screens. You don’t type a date: the app works out the next Christmas Day itself. On the day it shows your greeting, and after that it starts counting down to next year’s Christmas, so you can leave it in a playlist all year. The app runs on the screen without an internet connection, in landscape and portrait, and in any layer size. _Note: The Christmas Countdown app isn’t offered in video wall playlists._ ## Add the Christmas Countdown 1. Open the playlist, then click the layer. See [Playlist Media Management](https://easysignage.com/help/playlists/digital-signage-media/). 2. If the layer is empty, the content apps open. If it already has media, click **Add New**. 3. Click **Date and Time Apps**, then **Christmas Countdown**. You can also find it under **Templates** and **General Apps**, or by typing its name in **Search Apps**. ![Christmas Countdown and New Year Countdown in the Date and Time Apps](https://easysignage.com/help/assets/img/apps/countdown/countdown-apps.webp) 4. Choose your settings. Every setting has a ready-to-use default, so you can click **Save** straight away and change things later. 5. Click **Save**. The countdown appears in the layer. 6. Click **Publish changes of this playlist** to send it to your screens. ![Christmas Countdown playing in a playlist layer](https://easysignage.com/help/assets/img/apps/countdown/christmas-countdown-preview.webp) To change the settings later, click **Edit** next to the item in the layer. ## Choose the date ![Christmas Countdown settings](https://easysignage.com/help/assets/img/apps/countdown/christmas-countdown-settings.webp) - **Tradition**: **Western (25 December)** or **Orthodox (7 January)**. - **Count down to**: **Christmas Day** (midnight at the start of the day) or **Christmas Eve**. - **Christmas Eve time**: the time on Christmas Eve to count down to, when **Count down to** is **Christmas Eve**. The default is 18:00. - **Count in sleeps (days only)**: shows the number of nights left, for example “12 sleeps”, instead of a timer. - **Show the day of Advent (from 1 December)**: adds a line such as “Day 8 of Advent” from 1 to 24 December. Western tradition only. - **Deadline line (empty = hidden)** and **Deadline date**: an extra line, for example “Last order for delivery 18 Dec”. It disappears after the deadline date. Leave the text empty to hide it. - **Hours to show the end message**: how long the greeting stays on screen before the next countdown starts. The default, 48 hours, covers Christmas Day and Boxing Day. - **Use my own date**, **Date** and **Time**: count down to a date and time you choose instead. With your own date, the countdown doesn’t move on to next year by itself. ## Choose the text - **Countdown text**: the headline, for example “Countdown to Christmas”. You can include `{year}`, `{days}` or `{date}` and the app fills them in. - **Countdown message**: the greeting shown when the countdown reaches zero, for example “Merry Christmas!”. - **Units**: what the timer shows. **Automatic** drops units that are zero, for example days on Christmas Eve. You can also choose **Days**, **Days and hours**, **Days, hours and minutes**, **Hours, minutes and seconds** or **Days, hours, minutes and seconds**. - **Show weeks**: adds weeks when 7 or more days are left. - **Show the date**: shows the date of Christmas under the timer. - **Language**: the language of the words on the screen, such as “days” and “hours”. If you keep the default English headline and greeting, they are shown in the language you choose. Text you type yourself is shown as you typed it. - **Numerals**: **0123** (Western digits) or **٠١٢٣** (Arabic-Indic digits). ## Choose the look - **Theme**: **Classic** (dark green with gold and holly), **Snowy** (dark blue with snowflakes), **Nordic** (cream with red knitted bands) or **Minimal** (no decorations). - **Layout**: - **Full screen**: fills the whole layer. - **Card**: a panel in the layer. - **Strip**: one line, for a footer or ticker layer. - **Badge**: a small block for a corner. - **Position**: where a card, strip or badge sits in the layer: **Center**, **Top**, **Bottom** or one of the four corners. - **Timer style**: **Blocks** (tiles), **Inline** (one line of text) or **Ring** (a ring for each unit). - **Animated decorations**: gentle movement that matches the theme, such as falling snow on **Snowy**. It is on by default. It isn’t shown with a transparent background or with the **Strip** and **Badge** layouts. - **Background**: **Style background** (the theme’s colours and decorations), **Solid color** (pick it in **Background color**) or **Transparent** (whatever plays in the layers underneath shows through). - **Background opacity (%)**: below 100%, the layers underneath show through the theme or solid background. The number tiles stay solid. - **Readability on a transparent background**: with a transparent background, adds a **Text shadow**, **Text outline** or **Panel** behind the text so it stays readable. **Panel opacity (%)** sets how solid the panel is. - **Use my own colors**: replaces the theme’s colours with your **Text color** and **Accent color** (the digits and highlights). If a colour would be hard to read, the app makes it lighter or darker. - **Size (%)**: makes everything larger or smaller, from 60% to 140%. ## Choose what happens at zero - **Highlight the last 24 hours and 60 seconds**: in the last 24 hours the tiles change to the accent colour. In the last 60 seconds one large number replaces the timer. - **At zero**: - **Show the message**: shows the **Countdown message** for the **Hours to show the end message**, then starts the next countdown. - **Count up**: counts the time since zero. - **Hide**: shows nothing. - **Stay at zero**: keeps showing zeros. - **Time zone**: **The screen’s time zone** (the default), or **A fixed time zone** that you pick in **Timezone**, for example to count down to Christmas in another city. > **Note:** The countdown uses the screen’s own clock. If a screen shows the wrong countdown, check the date, time and time zone on that screen. ## Related articles - [New Year Countdown App](https://easysignage.com/help/apps/digital-signage-new-year-countdown/) - [Date and Time Apps](https://easysignage.com/help/apps/digital-signage-datetimeapps/) - [Playlist Media Management](https://easysignage.com/help/playlists/digital-signage-media/) [Previous ##### Date and Time Apps](https://easysignage.com/help/apps/digital-signage-datetimeapps/) [Next ##### New Year Countdown App](https://easysignage.com/help/apps/digital-signage-new-year-countdown/)