Apple unveiled Sports, a brand-new iPhone app that provides up-to-date statistics for several major league teams. Installing the app allows users to select their preferred team and access a wealth of information in the live activities box on their lock screen during games. The software, which is presently free to download in the US, Canada, and the UK, supports basketball, hockey, and soccer football. Other sports, like American football and baseball, will make their debuts for the upcoming seasons, the business said.
There are plenty of reasons you might not be able to watch your team of choice play live. You may have a prior engagement, the game may not be televised, or Todd Boehly has done so much damage to the club you can’t bear to look at it any more. In those situations, push alerts from major sports apps has been a lifeline, but it’s not always entirely reliable.
Now, it has been possible to get this working since iOS 16, if you fancied messing around in the depths of the Apple TV app. And some third-party platforms, like MLB’s homegrown app, would put this data in your lock screen or Dynamic Island. But Apple says that its own setup offers a “simple and fast way to stay up to speed on the teams and leagues they love.” The setup will also sync up with any sports preferences already stored in the Apple TV or Apple News apps.
Of more concern is that Sports will also offer up live betting odds for the games as they’re in play. It’s worth noting it will be possible to deactivate the live odds feature in settings, but it seems like it would have been smarter and less potentially harmful to make that opt-in, rather than opt-out.
Apple Sports is available to download now in English. French and Spanish are supported where available.
