A Guide to High-Tech Holiday Dating

There's more of Christmas to explore than just Bedford Falls. While George Bailey is a great guy, that doesn't mean he needs to accompany you on every holiday date this season. By combining your mobile device capabilities and a few of your favorite out-of-the-house activities, you can elevate your holiday dating schedule to the next level with some tech fun. It really will be a wonderful life when you blend innovative apps to heighten the experience with a special someone this Christmas.

Go Shopkicking

It pays to shop when you sign up for Shopkick and use your Apple and Android device. Grab your fashion-forward date and log into the app at the entrance to participating stores. Earn points called kicks when you scan the items listed in the feed or make a purchase. Cash in your kicks at the end for rewards like gift cards for free coffee at participating retailers where you and your date can snuggle before heading home. For added incentive, tie your credit card to your Shopkicks account to beef up your kick-earning potential.

Find a Christmas Geocache

Sign up for an instant account at Geocache.com. Bring along a date, a few Christmas baubles and your mobile phone or tablet, and follow the coordinates to find local treasures that cachers who came before you left behind. Geocaching is an adventurous way of getting yourself out of the house and into the beauty of nature—especially near Christmas. Following the directions on your phone, you and your date search for and find boxes of memories planted by other cachers. Leave a little holiday memento behind in the box when you find it, and if the two of you just happen upon a romantic spot under a snow-filled pine for a first, second or third kiss, so much the better.

Donate Flowers

Order Christmas flowers from FTD.com and get a holiday arrangement for a special stranger. Have it sent to your home and hand deliver it to the local hospice, nursing home or children's hospital. Opt for blooms that spread seasonal cheer such as poinsettias or mistletoe. You'll get a warm glow inside for brightening the holiday of a stranger in need.

Go Light-Seeing

Christmas lights and hot chocolate were never so 21st century. Using your Android device, you can download Trapster, the little driving app with big possibilities. In addition to alerting you to the presence of upcoming traffic lights, speed cameras and traffic accidents, Trapster also navigates you around the best local Christmas light displays. Bundle up with your beloved for an evening of cuddling in the car while you take in the sights. If you've had the forethought to download another popular app—World Chocolate Guide—you can impress her with your detailed knowledge of the best chocolatiers in the area after the festive tour ends.