Finally, Apple is doing something out of the box by giving its sports-loving iPhone users, a sports app for free.
On Wednesday, Apple launched the Apple Sports app that offers real-time scores and analytics, including news and other related content.
At first glance, it does what it is designed for and very well, which is to provide real-time scores and analytics. The downside here is that if you are someone who uses an older version of the iPhone running on anything other than IOS 17 upwards, then it is impossible to have the app.
The Apple Sports direction
Apple Sports is the company’s new signal that it is moving into the sports section, having earlier purchased rights and sports activities such as Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball games on Apple TV+.
However, Apple is taking a step forward by adding sports journalism to the Apple Sports app, including its very own sports streaming service focused on sports-related broadcasts.
Describing the Apple Sports app, Apple’s service chief, Eddy Cue depicts it as a fast way to check live scores on multiple occasions daily.
He pinpoints that since Apple does not sponsor any sports brands and isn’t about keeping users glued to their screens, the app will stand out amongst the numerous, already existing and quite popular versions.
At the moment, there has been a keen focus on sports by tech companies as Apple is rumored to be one of the key players in the National Basketball Association’s upcoming rights negotiation.
That, of course, is alongside companies like Amazon, Google, and just about any tech company that has something to do with a streaming service.
Sports is considered one of the most viewed forms of entertainment on the planet, so it’s no surprise that these non-sport-related companies are driving towards having major rights in streaming sports activities.
How Does it work
Contrary to the notions by users, the sports app will not be pre-installed on the iPhones. Secondly, it will be fully integrated with other Apple services, such as the Apple News app and Apple TV app.
In that case, if you already made some sports preferences on the News app, rest assured that the Apple Sports app will probably start with information about your preferred team.
Then there is the information that other sports apps already offer, such as who scored the goals, who was substituted, and the lineup.
It will also showcase live betting odds, but at the moment, it’s unsure which betting platform will be the source of the information.
Or is Apple planning on creating a betting site?
Well, the unnecessary information can be turned off in settings.
In terms of live streaming for most of the games, the Apple TV button will be seen on the game pages with a direct link to watch the live-stream game.
The restriction here, however, is that game streaming will only work for the games on streaming services connected to the Apple TV app or games that Apple carries.
Therefore, the user may need a cable streaming subscription for this to run smoothly.