iPhone’s Live Activities feature isn’t what you’d call new, but the launch of the iPhone 15 means new devices are ready to take advantage of it. That’s all thanks to Dynamic Island, which makes the jump from the iPhone Pro models to the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.
For the most part, Live Activities are alerts that pop up on your iPhone’s lock screen and stick around to show important information about something with an ever-changing status. Deliveries, sports results, timers, you name it. This way you know at a glance what is going on and how close the delivery person is to pretend you are not at home.
Having a dynamic island means that Live Activity updates can also appear at the top of your phone screen. This makes the cutout more than just a place for your selfie camera and Face ID sensors. And with Dynamic Island coming to iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, it means even more people can interact with Live Activities in a whole new way.
We spent some time going through App Store updates to find apps that take advantage of Live Activities. While not an exhaustive list, the 15 apps below certainly caught our attention while giving you a general taste of how Live Activities will work with the lock screen and Dynamic Island to bring more organized information to your attention.
Spotify
Thanks to Spotify’s Dynamic Island support, you can access the music streamer without actually having to open the app. Tapping the island will open a mini-player at the top of your screen, letting you see what’s playing and giving you the option to pause, skip forward or back through your queue, or AirPlay the track to another device to listen.
You have to open the app to physically search for new songs, but at least this way you can quickly and easily control what’s playing at any given time.
To download Spotify
Uber
Uber is perhaps one of the best-known services of its kind in the world, dealing in ride sharing, transportation and food delivery. The Uber app on iPhone also supports the Live Activities feature and can use the Dynamic Island to show you the status of your ride.
The Dynamic Island can show you how far away your ride is, while the Live Activity widget offers a little more detail. That includes pick-up times and details about the car you should get into, all without having to open the app.
To download Uber
United Airlines
Flying is stressful and the whole process becomes much worse if you don’t know what’s going on. With the large number of slow-loading web pages and travel apps, it’s great to be able to store all your flight information on the Dynamic Island, like United Airlines has done.
Integration with Live Activities shows live information about your flight, including gate details, seat numbers and a countdown to departure time. Plus, it gives you quick access to your boarding pass.
To download United Airlines
Structured
Live activities in other productivity apps
Structured is a day planner and time management app that puts all your tasks and calendar items in one place, giving you a clear overview of what you need to do on a given day. The app includes a countdown clock that shows how much time is left for a specific task that can be accessed via the lock screen or the Dynamic Island.
You can download Structured for free, but some features, including notifications and integration with the built-in Reminders app, require a subscription. You can sign up for a monthly ($2.99) or annual ($9.99) subscription, while a $29.99 purchase gets you a lifetime membership.
To download Structured
Volatile
Live activities in other travel apps
The Flighty flight tracking app puts a lot of information at your fingertips: from the flight route to delay forecasts and weather forecasts. Flighty can bring that information to the lock screen and Dynamic Island with a Live Activity Alert that shows arrival and departure times, gate information and flight status.
Flighty is free to download and that version already contains a lot of essential flight information. More advanced features like delay predictions, push alerts, and live tracking of inbound aircraft require a Flighty Pro subscription ($5.99/month or $47.99/year).
To download Volatile
Smart gym
Live activities in other fitness apps
If you use SmartGym to track your workout routines, make sure your app is up to date with Live Activity support. Live Activities lets you start a timer to display the lock screen and also get guidance for your next set or exercise. Dynamic Island support allows you to track rest periods and execution during a workout.
You can try SmartGym for free, with support for two routines, 10 histories and two measures. A subscription ($9.99/month or $59.99/year gives you unlimited access to all of these things, plus the ability to sync data with SmartGym’s cloud service.
To download SmartGym
Wake up from
Wakeout has been a godsend for desk-bound workers who don’t want a sedentary profession to creep into their lifestyle. The app offers workout breaks that you can do at your desk to stay active and alert, and also helps you focus on the tasks at hand with a countdown timer so you can stay on task until the next Wakeout break. With Live Activities, that timer goes to your phone’s lock screen.
You can try Wakeout for a week before your subscription starts. A month of Wakeout costs $12.99/month, with a lower monthly rate available if you sign up for a year.
To download Wake up from
Root weather
Live activities in other weather apps
Carrot Weather for iOS features a Rain Soon Live Activity that will appear on your lock screen if rain is expected in the next hour. A rain graph that appears with the Live Activity allows you to monitor the coming storm.
Although you can download Carrot Weather for free, the Live Activity for Rain Starting Soon requires you to sign up for the app’s Premium Ultra tier, which costs $29.99 per year.
To download Root weather
Errand
Live activities for other food apps
Grocery gives you a place to write down what you need the next time you run to the store, and the Live Activity functionality for the app keeps that list visible on your lock screen or in the Dynamic Island. If you save recipes in Grocery – you can, you know – there’s a countdown timer that shows up as a live activity.
Groceries can be downloaded for free, although a membership unlocks premium features like family-to-family sharing and pantry tracking. That will cost you $3.99/month or $9.99/year. A payment of $29.99 gets you lifetime access.
To download Errand
Just press Record
Live activities in other tools
Just Press Record gets straight to the point when it comes to one-tap recording, and the look at Live Activities is just as simple. When you record a memo, lecture, interview, or whatever, a controller will appear on your iPhone’s lock screen, giving you quick access to pause or stop the recording.
Just Press Record is a $4.99 download with features beyond what iOS’ built-in Voice Memos app offers.
To download Just press Record
Sports Alerts
Live activities in other sports apps
Sports updates have proven to be popular fodder for live activities, and one of the first apps to jump on board was the aptly named Sports Alerts app. Sports Alerts, which currently support the Big Four sports leagues in the US (MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL), let you start a live activity up to six hours before game time. The live activity will remain on your lock screen and let you be notified of any score changes without having to unlock your phone.
You can download Sports Alerts for free. A $4.99 in-app purchase removes all ads for a year.
To download Sports Alerts
Tide guide
Live activities in other outdoor apps
Tide Guide excels at providing tide information and solar charts in an easy-to-view format. Live Activities support lets you view the current tide height, solar or moon height, and information about when the next tide will rise, whether that appears on your lock screen or on the Dynamic Island.
You can download Tide Guide and use it for free for three days before a subscription starts. Tide Guide costs $4.99 per month or $29.99 for a full year.
To download Tide guide
MoneyCoach
The MoneyCoach budgeting app helps you manage your expenses and keep track of your accounts, with the aim of creating healthy money habits. With Live Activities, you’ll see transactions appear on the lock screen, along with how much you spent on that specific category during the currency tracking period and a comparison to previous spend. iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 owners can see that data in the Dynamic Island.
You can download MoneyCoach for free, while a $9.99/month or $59.99/year subscription unlocks the app’s Premium features.
To download MoneyCoach
Lumy
Lumy tracks sunrises and sunsets, with the aim of helping photographers and videographers take a perfectly exposed photo. (Do you have any idea this is a photo-focused app? One of the main things Lumy tracks is when the Golden Hour arrives and the lighting is most photogenic.) The app now lets you track every solar event, from golden to the sun. first light, on your lock screen or from the Dynamic Island.
With a $6.99 purchase you get full access to Lumy and all its features.
To download Lumy
City mapper
Navigating a strange city isn’t fun, but Dynamic Island support means your Citymapper routes are visible and accessible from your home screen. The Island tells you exactly where to go, whether that’s a walking route, waiting for a bus or getting off the subway at the right stop.
To download City mapper