Live Activities are supported app by app. An iPhone does not automatically give every app a Live Activity. The developer must build the feature with Apple’s ActivityKit framework, and the user must allow it. Apple’s documented examples include directions in Maps, live sports updates, and food-delivery estimates. Apple Sports is the named app with detailed controls for choosing teams and update frequency.
Apple does not publish a complete, current directory of every third-party app that supports Live Activities. The most accurate way to check a particular app is to look at its current App Store listing, its own settings, and the iPhone’s per-app Live Activities control. Availability can differ by app version, region, device and settings.
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What a Live Activity actually is
Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines define a Live Activity as a way to “track the progress of an activity, event, or task at a glance.” It is designed for something that is happening now and changing over time, rather than a general-purpose notification feed.
When an app supports the feature and an activity is active, iPhone can present the information on the Lock Screen. On iPhone models that support the Dynamic Island, the same activity can also appear there. Apple’s support documentation also describes Live Activities in CarPlay, where compatible activities can be viewed while driving. The exact presentation depends on the app, the activity and the device surface.
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ActivityKit is the developer framework behind the feature. The app has to declare support, request the relevant authorization and publish an activity. Users can turn an app’s activities off, so a compatible app may still show nothing until both the app and the iPhone settings permit it.
Verified app examples
The table below separates named, documented support from broad categories Apple uses as examples. A category example is not proof that every app in that category implements Live Activities.
| App or category | Example activity | Documented display | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Sports | Scores and play updates for selected teams | iPhone Lock Screen; controls are also available in the app and Settings | You choose which followed teams receive activities. Apple says availability and features can vary by country or region. |
| Apple Maps | Turn-by-turn directions and trip progress | Dynamic Island and CarPlay examples are documented by Apple | The activity appears while a supported navigation activity is in progress; it is not a permanent Maps panel. |
| Food-delivery apps (category) | Delivery estimates and order progress | Apple names this category in its CarPlay guidance | The cited guidance does not name a particular delivery service, so do not assume every service supports the feature. |
| Live sports apps (category) | Live game or match updates | Apple identifies live sports updates as an example | Apple Sports is the specifically documented app. Check other sports apps individually. |
Apple Sports
Apple Sports is the clearest documented example because Apple provides app-specific instructions. You can follow teams or leagues, then select which followed teams are allowed to publish Live Activities. The feature is therefore selective: following a team does not necessarily mean every game will occupy your Lock Screen.
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Apple Support uses directions in Maps as an example of an activity that can be visible in the Dynamic Island or CarPlay. The useful mental model is an ongoing journey: once navigation is active, the activity can surface progress without requiring you to keep the full Maps interface open.
Food-delivery services
Apple’s CarPlay documentation refers to food-delivery estimates as an example category. That establishes the type of information Live Activities can show, not a universal compatibility promise. Whether you receive an order countdown or status card depends on the individual service’s implementation, current app version and settings.
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Other sports apps
Apple’s general examples include live sports updates, but the official material reviewed does not provide an app-by-app roster. Treat an individual sports app as unverified until its listing, settings or help documentation explicitly indicates Live Activities.
How to turn on Apple Sports Live Activities
Apple documents the following setup flow for Apple Sports:
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- In Apple Sports, open Manage Live Activities and enable updates for the teams you want.
- For update frequency and the app-level permission, open Settings > Apps > Sports > Live Activities.
Apple notes that choosing more frequent updates can use more battery. If you want the least battery impact, select a less frequent update option while keeping activities enabled.
How to check whether another app supports Live Activities
Because there is no complete official directory, use a three-part check. Each step answers a different failure point: whether the developer advertises support, whether iOS allows it, and whether an activity is actually running.
- Read the current App Store description. Search the app’s listing for “Live Activities,” “Lock Screen,” or “Dynamic Island.” A listing that says nothing is not proof of incompatibility, but an explicit statement is useful evidence.
- Look in the app itself. Open the app’s settings and look for a Live Activities, Lock Screen, scores, order tracking or trip-progress switch. Some apps require you to follow a team, start navigation, place an order or choose an event before an activity can begin.
- Check iPhone permission. When the setting is available, open Settings > Apps > [app name] > Live Activities and make sure it is enabled. The app can support the feature while this per-app control is turned off.
- Create a real, ongoing activity. A compatible app normally has nothing to display when no delivery, journey, match or other supported task is in progress. Start the relevant task and allow a short period for the activity to appear.
- Check the surface you are using. Lock Screen, Dynamic Island and CarPlay do not have identical hardware or interface requirements. An activity may be visible on one supported surface but not another.
Why a supported app may show no Live Activity
The app has no active task
Live Activities track progress. Opening an app or receiving a normal notification does not automatically create one. Maps needs an active supported journey; a delivery app needs an order that exposes progress; a sports app needs a selected live event.
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The iPhone permission is off
Users can deactivate an app’s activities. Check Settings > Apps > [app name] > Live Activities, then review any equivalent switch inside the app. Apple Sports has a separate control for selecting teams in addition to the system permission.
The app version or region differs
Support can change between app releases, and Apple says Apple Sports availability and features may vary by country or region. An app may advertise a feature in one market while a particular account or region does not receive it.
The device or display surface is different
Live Activities can appear on the Lock Screen, while Dynamic Island presentation requires an iPhone model that supports that interface. CarPlay has its own compatibility and display context. The underlying app support and the visible surface are separate questions.
The developer changed or withdrew support
ActivityKit support is controlled by the app developer. A feature can be revised, limited to certain activities or removed in a later version. Recheck the current listing and settings instead of relying on an old screenshot or review.
Live Activities versus ordinary notifications and widgets
A notification is usually a discrete message: an alert arrives, you read it and it may disappear. A widget is a persistent information view that refreshes on a schedule. A Live Activity is tied to a specific ongoing event and is intended to show its changing status at a glance.
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That distinction explains why compatibility is narrow. A developer must decide which event qualifies, what information is safe and useful to expose, how often it updates and when it ends. Installing an app, allowing notifications or owning an iPhone with a Dynamic Island does not create those design and implementation decisions for the developer.
What controls you may see
App-level selection
Some apps let you choose individual activities. Apple Sports lets you select followed teams, so you can avoid enabling every team in your feed.
Update frequency
Apple Sports exposes an update-frequency control. More frequent updates can consume more battery, so the setting is a trade-off between immediacy and power use.
System authorization
iOS provides a per-app Live Activities setting when the app exposes the feature. Turning that switch off prevents the app from presenting activities even if the app’s own settings are configured.
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Does an Apple Watch or another product unlock support?
No additional product is required to find or use an iPhone app’s Live Activities. Apple Sports documentation mentions an Apple Watch as an optional additional display, but the watch is not what makes an iPhone app compatible. iPhone hardware differences mainly affect where an already-supported activity can appear, such as whether the Dynamic Island is available.
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What developers have to implement
For readers evaluating a technical claim, the key fact is that Live Activities are not a blanket iOS capability. The developer integrates ActivityKit, declares the support capability and handles authorization checks. The app then publishes updates for a defined activity and ends that activity when the underlying task is complete.
Apple’s developer guidance also makes clear that availability is user-controlled. An app can implement the framework correctly and still be unable to show an activity when the user has disabled it, when no qualifying event is running or when the feature is unavailable in the relevant configuration.
A practical compatibility checklist
- Is the app’s current App Store listing explicit about Live Activities?
- Does the app expose a Live Activities or equivalent control in its own settings?
- Is Settings > Apps > [app name] > Live Activities enabled?
- Have you started the specific journey, order, game or task that produces an activity?
- Are you checking a display surface your iPhone and vehicle setup support?
- Could region, account, app version or a recent developer change explain the difference?
If all six checks pass and nothing appears, contact the app developer with the app version, iOS version, region and the exact activity you attempted. Those details distinguish an implementation issue from a disabled permission or an activity that simply is not supported for that event.
What can and cannot be claimed about the app list
You can confidently say that Apple Sports, Maps directions, live sports updates and food-delivery estimates are documented examples of Live Activity use cases, with Apple Sports having named setup controls. You cannot honestly present Apple’s examples as a complete list of compatible third-party apps, and you should not infer that every sports or delivery app supports the feature.
The reliable answer to “Which iPhone apps support Live Activities?” is therefore conditional: apps that deliberately implement ActivityKit and expose an active, authorized activity support them. Verify the individual app and the specific task rather than relying on a universal compatibility list.
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