How to Follow Election Results Live on Your iPhone
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Today is Election Day. It’s an anxious time for many of us. Regardless of whether or not you’ve decided to unplug from the news or keep your finger firmly on the pulse of the 24-hour news cycle, there’s probably a good chance you’re tuning into the news tonight.
Either way, Apple has a new Live Activities feature available that allows you to follow the election results in real time on your iPhone or iPad’s Lock Screen and Dynamic Island.
Apple has launched an election tracker in Apple News to present real-time election results in a Lock Screen widget and the Dynamic Island (if your device has one). That’s right. Forget the news; you can watch your Dynamic Island instead, where the electoral count for each candidate is constantly being updated.
If this gives you some anxiety, you’re not alone. It could be a while until the final results are in. Without getting into the details, we’re talking about at least a few days until we see a candidate hit the magic number of 270 electoral votes. We’ll see how long it takes for a decision, and at the same time, we’ll find out how long Apple is willing to ride the waiver and maintain this new live feature.
Here’s how to activate (and delete) the US election results in Live Activity:
- Open the Apple News app.
- Tap the “Follow the 2024 election live” banner at the top of the page or under “Top Stories.”
- A notification will appear that indicates the Live Activity has been activated. On my iPhone 13 Pro, the notification states I’ll receive real-time updates on my Home Screen and Lock Screen starting tonight. No specific time is given.
- To deactivate the feature, go back to the News app and tap the banner that says “Following: Election Results.”If you’ve disabled it successfully, the banner will read, “Follow the election live.” Tap it again to enable it.
Buckle up, everyone. Tonight is going to be exciting. If you’re trying to strike a balance between too much or too little election coverage, this new Apple Live Activity could help. We’ll see if it allows us to turn off the television and still feel connected or if it becomes too much.
No matter what, remember to vote. As Thomas Jefferson said, “We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.”
