It's a technological Christmas tradition older than some Christmas movies now deemed to be classics: tracking Santa's delivery progress on Christmas Eve. Now, in 2014, there's competition in the field, so here are the best Santa trackers for your curious kid this Dec. 24.

The Christmas Eve tradition of "tracking Santa's progress" began as a good-natured byproduct of a serious Cold War era mistake, as NPR tells it. 

NORAD Tracks Santa

In 1955, at the height of tensions between the U.S. and its nuclear and ideological rival, the U.S.S.R., somehow the number to the secret "red phone" hotline at the Continental Air Defense Command (now called NORAD) was printed in a Colorado Springs newspaper under a Sears ad to call Santa Claus.

And the way the U.S.'s primary nuclear attack early detection system headquarters found out was when Col. Harry Shoup received a phone call on the red phone -- the number of which was only supposed to be known to the colonel and a four-star general at the pentagon -- with a high-pitched voice asking, "Is this Santa Claus?"

Thinking it was a joke, Shoup responded sternly, until he heard the little voice on the other end of the phone crying, so he kindly cheered the boy up and put a couple of airmen on the phones to answer the calls of children wanting to talk to Santa. That Christmas Eve, Shoup walked into the air command situation room to see a drawing of a sleigh pulled by reindeer coming over the North Pole's horizon.

From then on, the North American Air Defense Command had two jobs: be the first warning for the beginning of World War III, and keep track of Santa on Christmas Eve.

That tradition continues today, and so our top pick for Santa tracking apps is "NORAD Tracks Santa," available on the web, on iOS, and Android. NORAD's apps and website feature a countdown for Santa's arrival, and an interactive Santa's Village with games, music, and a history of NORAD's Santa tracking.

Of course on the big night, NORAD will undoubtedly put all of the U.S.'s air defense radars on "red" alert for any signs of sleigh bells, reindeer, and a jolly old elf. Though it now works through Microsoft's Bing Maps, NORAD did start the whole Santa Tracking tradition, so it's worth a spin.

Google Tracks Santa

Of course, anything the government can do technologically, Google thinks it can do better. According to its Original Google Engineering Elf, writing the history of Google tracking Santa, Google began in 2004 with the idea of visualizing Santa's progress on a map for the first time. The night of Christmas Eve, 25,000 people used Google's newly acquired "Keyhole Earth Viewer" to watch Santa's progress.

By 2007, Google had created and started implementing Santa Tracking on Google Earth, improved its real-time updating software, and used 3D modeling software to include images of Santa's North Pole HQ.

Google also partnered with NORAD that year, with a live feed of tracking information from NORAD being fed through Google Earth to show an updated location for Santa that Christmas Eve. (Really, this is true. It's crazy how much Google and NORAD have put into this.) On top of that, Google created the "Santa Cam" to show Santa "arriving in several different locations around the world, with commentary in six different languages," according to Google's post.

Google and NORAD eventually stopped partnering, and each offers their own competing Santa Tracker. Google's is on the web and for Android.

Google has a cute Santa's village of its own, along with some educational interactive features for kids: learn how to say Santa in different languages with Google Translate, color virtual Christmas tree ornaments themed after various charity organizations (with information on how to give to them this holiday season), or sign up to get a personal message on Google+, via phone, or message from Santa. And of course there's a countdown to Santa's departure.

The grand opening of the Santa tracker starts Tuesday, so be sure to check it out. Or, for a more traditional approach, check out NORAD's Santa tracker.