Sports fans can enjoy new features in the free Apple Sports iPhone app, some in time for football season and others coming soon, Apple said Thursday. The app launched earlier this year with an emphasis on simplicity to help fans easily track scores and stats.
Apple Sports app adds features for football season and beyond
The Apple Sports app launched in February 2024, promising convenience for sports fans. The app‘s tagline is “Your real-time scores and stats app, fast and simple.” It launched with a selection of 10 sports in play at the time, and with the promise to add more as their seasons launched — and it has. Version 1.6 came in recently with full support for NFL and NCAA Division 1 college football, along with a new Stats tab on game pages.
Then, with pro and college football seasons just underway, Apple said some new features will enhance the app, some now and others soon to come. Check out how to download and use the app.
Enhanced play-by-play and drive tracking
The latest update introduces an improved play-by-play feature, offering users quick access to scoring drives alongside a comprehensive view of every game play. The new dynamic drive tracker lets fans visualize the ball’s position on the field in real-time. We’ve seen it elsewhere, like ESPN. Now it comes to the Apple Sports app.
Expanded college football coverage
College football fans will now be able to follow the hotly contested ranking of the top 25 teams, updated weekly, in addition to their favorite teams and conferences. The app will provide real-time scores, statistics and live betting odds for every college football game. That mirrors features available for other leagues.
Live activities integration coming soon
Photo: Apple
And with the upcoming iOS 18 and watchOS 11 updates, Apple Sports will introduce Live Activities for all supported teams and leagues. The feature will deliver live scores and play-by-play information directly to users’ iPhone and Apple Watch Lock Screens. That will allow for quick glances at game progress for people unable to watch games directly.
And user interface improvements, too
Later this year, Apple Sports plans to introduce a new drop-down navigation for the main scorecard views. The update aims to streamline the user experience, making it faster to switch between My Leagues, My Teams and favorited league feeds. Additionally, an enhanced search function will help users easily view matches for leagues they don’t currently follow.
Photo: Apple
Lots of sports leagues and more to come
The app currently supports a variety of leagues, including NFL, NCAAF, MLS, MLB, NBA, WNBA, NCAA basketball, NHL, NWSL and several European soccer leagues. Apple also announced plans to add Champions League and Europa League coverage, starting with the league phase in September.
Personalization and integration
As Apple has pointed out, Apple Sports allows users to customize their experience by following favorite teams, tournaments and leagues. The app syncs with favorites selected in the My Sports experience across Apple TV and Apple News. Users can also easily navigate to live games through the Apple TV app and connected streaming services.
Users in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada can download the free app.
Where to download: App Store
Source: Apple
