One of iOS 16’s most useful new features is Live Activities, which are essentially live notifications on the Lock Screen. The new feature will allow users to keep track of things happening in real time, such as the score of a sports game, the progress of an Uber ride, or the status of a food delivery order, right from the Lock Screen.
Live Activities will be available for NBA, MLB, and Premier League games in select countries, according to fine print on the iOS 16 features page. Apple says Live Activities for the NBA and Premier League games will be available in the US and Canada, while Live Activities for MLB games will be available in a wider group of countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, UK, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, and South Korea.
During its WWDC keynote in June, Apple also previewed Live Activities for the Uber and Nike Run Club apps, and Apple showed a Live Activity for Starbucks on its iOS 16 page. On the iOS 16 beta, there is also a Live Activity for timers set in the Clock app.
Live Activities will not be available in the initial public release of iOS 16. Apple says the feature will be added in an update coming later this year, which suggests that it could be included as part of iOS 16.1 or iOS 16.2. When the feature launches, developers will be able to submit apps with Live Activities to the App Store.
Last month, Apple released a new ActivityKit framework that allows developers to begin testing Live Activities in their apps. Apps with Live Activities integration can currently only be distributed via TestFlight for testing by iOS 16 beta users.
Apple is expected to release iOS 16 alongside the iPhone 14 in September. The software update is compatible with the iPhone 8 and newer.
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