Apple Sports Adds Live Scores to Your iPhone Lock Screen

Week 2 of the NFL season wraps up tonight with the Philadelphia Eagles hosting the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football and Apple has a new way to keep you updated on the game's score with its new Sports app version 2.0.

Apple's Sports app debuted earlier this year and has received a steady stream of feature and capability updates in the intervening months. Apple added NFL and Division 1 NCAA football coverage in mid-August, giving you the ability to check "scores, stats, play-by-play," and real-time betting odds directly through the app. Just over a week later, the company released an improved play-by-play system, "offering quick access to scoring drives presented alongside the view of every play," as well as implemented a "dynamic drive tracker" to show where the ball is on the field. Apple also expanded its college football coverage with weekly updates about the Top 25 in that release.

One feature Apple Sports has noticeably lacked since its February debut has been Live Activities, which enables the app to deliver real-time score updates to your iPhone's lock screen and Apple Watch smart stack. That changed with Monday's version 2.0 release. Apple explains in its developer documentation, "For apps with frequent content and status updates that go beyond the existing push notification system, Live Activities can be a more flexible way to keep people updated about live events, activities, or tasks over a couple of hours."

Version 2.0 also offers some subtle improvements to navigation. The menu in the top-right corner now opens through a drop-down animation rather than launching an entirely new screen, streamlining your ability to flip back and forth between sports.

The Sports app offers a wide range of league coverage beyond American football. The service currently offers updates and scores from across the current seasons of NBA, MLB, NHL, Bundesliga, LaLiga, Liga MX, Ligue 1, Premier League, and Serie A. Your device will need to run iOS 18 or WatchOS 11 in order to take advantage of the newest features.

Apple Sports is available to download from the App Store in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada, though you will need to run iOS 17.2 or higher on your iPhone to use it.

Source: MacRumors, Apple, 9to5Mac