Apple Sports Is Changing Its Game in iOS 18
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Earlier this year, Apple introduced one of its relatively rare first-party apps in the form of Apple Sports, providing a simple and efficient way to get real-time sports scores and stats.
The magic of Apple Sports wasn’t just that it was from Apple, but rather that it focused on simplicity and accessibility above all. It focused on the most essential details for sports fans with no cruft or clutter — and, most importantly, no ads.
The standalone app built on what Apple had already done in Apple News and the Apple TV app but offered a destination for fans of various sports to get the information they needed all in one place.
In its first iteration, Sports covered the 2024 MLB season, Major League Soccer (MLS), the NBA and NHL, men’s and women’s NCAA basketball, and Bundesliga, LaLiga, Liga MX, Ligue 1, Premier League, and Serie A soccer. Later updates added NCAAF, NWSL, and WNBA, and Apple promised that the NFL would be coming in time for the 2024 fall season.
So, it’s not a big surprise that the latest update to Apple Sports readies it for American Football Season, with stats for NFL and college football teams. However, Apple is also making a few other changes to coincide with the debut of iOS 18 next month.
Apple announced the new Sports update today, noting that the new football updates will offer play-by-play enhancements with “quick access to scoring drives presented alongside the view of every game play.” College football fans can also follow the top 25 teams, updated weekly, and build a list of their favorite teams and conferences.
However, it’s not just the new teams. Apple Sports will also provide direct support for Live Activities in iOS 18 and watchOS 11 — something that’s been an unusual omission until now.
When Apple Sports launched, you could open the app and see all the scores and stats you wanted, including for live games. However, if you wanted to follow a game on your Lock Screen or in the Dynamic Island, you had to turn to the Apple TV app, where the feature has lived since iOS 16 added Live Activities nearly two years ago.
Apple seemingly saw no point in duplicating that functionality in the Sports app, so it left it in the TV app, where presumably most folks had become accustomed to it, and Apple Sports made it easy to link to the TV app page for a live game. However, for an app focused on providing scores, it still seemed strange that it couldn’t deliver them directly.
That will change with iOS 18, which will move Live Activities out of the TV app and into Apple Sports, where they more logically belong.
With iOS 18 and watchOS 11, the Apple Sports app will offer Live Activities for all teams and leagues available in the app for the first time ever, delivering live scores and play-by-play at a quick glance to a user’s iPhone and Apple Watch Lock Screens.
Users will still be able to link into the TV app to watch live games if they’ve subscribed to a service that provides them, but as Apple notes in the fine print of its announcement, “Live Activities will no longer be available in the Apple TV app with iOS 18.”
Another update to the Sports app later this year will add a new “drop-down navigation for the main scorecard views” to make it easier for users to switch between feeds for their favorite leagues and teams. It will also include an enhanced search to find matches for any leagues that fans aren’t following.
With this update, Apple Sports now covers scores, updates, betting odds, schedules, and more for the NFL, NCAAF, MLS, MLB, NBA, WNBA, men’s and women’s NCAA basketball, NHL, NWSL, Premier League, Bundesliga, LaLiga, Liga MX, Ligue 1, and Serie A. The Champions League and Europa League are expected to arrive in September, and Apple promises more will follow over time.
