Election results will be available as a Live Activity on iPhone
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If you're not feeling engaged enough during the 2024 election, Apple News is offering a way to get the latest results on your Lock screen and Apple Watch with Live Activities.
Apple originally introduced Live Activities as a way to take advantage of the Dynamic Island in a whimsical way and provide the user with real-time information updates. Now, this was handy for music playback, sports scores, and active calls, but Apple News is using it for something a little more alarming.
Starting late Tuesday, users will be able to have a Live Activity from Apple News that tracks election results. There will be a large interactive widget on the lock screen that will launch for the latest election coverage, and a Dynamic Island will continuously show the vote count for each candidate.
So while you’re hopelessly scrolling through the X and arguing with your relatives in iMessage, you’ll have a constant reminder of exactly how things are going as Americans vote for their future. Of course, users can swipe away the Dynamic Island content without closing the Live Activity, which may help preserve some sense of sanity for a moment.
To enable Live Activity for US election results:
- Open Apple News
- Tap the prominent “Follow the 2024 election live” banner at the top of the page or under Top Stories.
- If you can’t find the banner, open the “Special 2024 Election Coverage” section in the menu.
- A notification will appear telling you to enable Live Activity.
Tap the banner again, and the scheduled Live Activity will be disabled.
Live Activity will appear on the Lock screens of your iPhone and iPad, but only devices with Dynamic Island will get the special UI. Apple Watch can also display Live Activity data as widgets.
Earlier this year, Apple News featured Live Activities for caucus results, and it proved to be a useful way to track the events. While the stakes are much higher in a real election, the tool will be a great way to quickly see immediate results while avoiding polarizing news coverage.
It's unclear how long Apple News will keep Live Activity active, as it could be days before preliminary results are announced, and final tallies won't be available until December 11. The US election could be an interesting stress test for how users engage with the feature and how it holds up under active hours.
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