Live sports scores coming to iPhone using Live Activities with iOS 16.1

Live Activities on the Lock Screen in iOS 16

(Image credit: Apple)

The recently released iOS 16.1 beta includes support for Live Activities and Apple is already testing live sports scores, according to reports.

Live Activities are similar to notifications, with Apple allowing developers to update them without sending an entirely new notification as is the case right now. With this latest iOS 16 beta, Apple has begun testing live sports scores when accessed via the TV app.

First reported by MacRumors, Apple has begun to test displaying a Live Activity when people tap the Follow button on a sports game via the TV app on their iPhone running iOS 16.1 beta 1. The result is a Live Activity that appears on the iPhone's Lock Screen — including the Always-On Display for iPhone 14 Pro devices — that includes a scoreboard that automatically updates as the action unfolds.

Know the score

Live Activities will eventually support other apps, with Apple's WWDC22 event showcasing ridesharing apps and more that could provide live location data and other information on the Lock Screen.

While announced as part of the iOS 16 unveiling, Live Activities were always slated as a feature that would arrive later this year. There is no hard release date for iOS 16.1 just yet, but it's expected that it will arrive within weeks, bringing Live Activity support with it. Apple is expected to allow developers to submit their apps with Live Activity support once the iOS 16.1 update reaches the release candidate state to ensure they're in the App Store in time for the final version to be made available to all.

This news comes on the day that Apple's new iPhone 14 lineup goes on sale alongside the updated Apple Watch SE and refreshed Apple Watch Series 8. The all-new Apple Watch Ultra won't be released until September 23, however, and that's the same date that the updated AirPods Pro will make their debut as well.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.