While there’s been a lot of focus on the Lock Screen changes with iOS 16, one could argue that iOS 16.1 is an even bigger update. Not only does it squash a lot of the bugs introduced with iOS 16, but the latest release of iOS also finally brings support for Live Activities. And now that iOS 16.1 is available for everyone to download and install, we’re rounding a list of the best iPhone apps for Live Activities.
While Apple really swung for the fences with its overhauled Lock Screen interface, the company didn’t stop there. iOS 16 introduces some long-overdue changes to how notifications can be viewed, partially expanding on the minor changes with iOS 15. One feature that has kind of flown under the radar is called Live Activities.
During the WWDC ’22 keynote, this feature was shown off and will provide live updates for your various apps. These include seeing updated information about the score of a baseball game, or how far away your Uber is from picking you up. Apple also introduced a separate Live Activities API for developers to take advantage of.
Best iPhone Apps For Live Activities
Flighty – Fast Flight Tracker
“Imagine a personal flight status board throughout your home screen and lock screen. Critical alerts won’t get lost amongst your notifications. Flight updates peacefully animated in, even when using other apps. Live data is still visible even when your screen is off.”
“It’s nearly Halloween, meatbags! And while you’ve been busy eating most of the candy you’re supposed to put out for trick or treaters, I’ve been hard at work adding Live Activity support to your favorite weather app. If you open me up when rain is expected to start in the next hour, then my Live Activity will let you track the storm’s approach from the Dynamic Island (on the iPhone 14 Pro) and the Lock Screen. Premium membership required.”
“Added support for live activities. Now when you start a timer or step by step mode, you can view your progress right from the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island!”
“Keep an eye on your timers even when in other apps, and get a quick glance at your current step with a tap and hold. Two timers? No worries, they’ll both show up even without expanding the Dynamic Island. Got another activity going? Pestle will show the soonest to complete timer in a minimal view alongside sports scores, food deliveries, or whatever else you’ve got going on.”
“On devices that support Live Activities (iPhones running iOS 16.1 or greater), Drafts will now start a Live Activity for the current draft when pinning is enabled in the editor. This allows quick access to that draft in a longer research/editing session from the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. If you prefer not to have activities created, disable this feature via long press options on the pinning button.”
“You probably know this as the cool new Dynamic Island feature launching today with iOS 16.1, but it also works on prior phones by showing the Live Activity on the lock screen as well! With this update you can go to a specific thread, and select “Start Live Activity” and Apollo will monitor a thread for you and show you (live!) recent comments right as they come in, eithr right in your Dynamic Island, or right on your lock screen.”
“Customize your phone with adorable pet animals moving and animating on your home and lock screen as transparent widgets and even the Dynamic Island and Live Activities!
Pixel Pals is an incredible app for customizing your Home Screen and Lock Screen, as well as Live Activities, allowing you to place adorable pets called Pixel Pals that you can customize and enjoy as you swipe through your apps or unlock your phone, making each interaction just that much happier!”
“Introducing support for Live Activities! You’ll be able to get quick access to up to 4 buttons from your Lock Screen or Dynamic Island (iPhone 14 Pro & 14 Pro Max only). Live Activities are the perfect way to keep your remote active whilst watching TV and wanting to quickly flick between channels, adjust volume and more without having to have the app open.
Live Activities are fully customisable with the ability to set whether they should be started automatically or manually, which theme they should use and the commands to be displayed on a per-TV basis.”
“Start a Live Activity up to 6 hours prior to game time by long pressing a game and selecting the option from the context menu. Works with MLB, NFL, NBA & NHL with more leagues to come.”
“Live Activities Support: Workflows can now continue to run on your lock screen or in your Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro. This even works on your Always-on display on iPhone 14 Pro.”
“Live Activities & Dynamic Island Support – Now Playing Insights
Get insights about the currently playing song — right on the lock screen.
Only works with player type set to the default ‘ System ‘ from Soor > Settings > Player > Player Type.”
Dynamic Island support
• On iPhone 14 Pro, you can now see your tracked time and category right in Dynamic Island.
• Quickly jump back to Timelines by tapping the Dynamic Island.
• See your tracked category on the lock screen as a Live Activity.
“When using the “Mix Audio” feature, Dark Noise will show the currently playing noise along with media controls in the Dynamic Island and on the Lock Screen using Live Activities.”
Live Activity support: see how your day is going without unlocking your phone! From your Lock Screen you can see two (customizable) stats about your day, who else is riding at the resort, and the timeline of your day.
Dynamic Island support. On iPhone 14 Pro models Slopes will live up in the Dynamic Island, making it easy to check stats / nearby friends at a glance and pause / resume.
New iOS 16.1 Live Activities & Dynamic Island support! Track your progress in real-time, with stat previews directly on your Lock Screen. No need to take your gloves off!
“Lock Launcher is an iOS 16 lock screen widget. You can add anything on the lock screen and launch it instantly with just one touch. It perfectly supports various Apps, Websites, Shortcuts and custom URL Schemes.”
iOS 16 and iOS 16.1 are two of the most popular software releases since iOS 14. There are a plethora of apps being constantly updated and released onto the App Store, so we’re sure that we missed a few apps here and there. Let us know in the comments what your favorite iPhone apps for Live Activities are so we can check them out too!
Andrew is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US.
He has written for a variety of sites over the years, including iMore, Android Central, Phandroid, and a few others. Now, he spends his days working for an HVAC company, while moonlighting as a freelance writer at night.
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