Are you ready for some football? The Apple Sports app is

The 2024 college football season is underway and the NFL season starts on September 5. If you’re looking for a way to keep on top of all the action, Apple just updated its Sports app to better keep you up to date on the games. The updates bring it closer to apps like ESPN, Fox Sports, and others for live game info, and away from the basic “simple and fast way to stay up to speed” the Sports app had when it was originally released back in February.

The Sports app will now have play-by-play, handy for when you aren’t able to watch a video stream of the game (stupid blackout rules). It also has a “dynamic drive tracker” so you know where the ball is on the field. The app also provides real-time scores and stats, and live betting odds.

Apple also announced that the Sports app will support Live Activities when iOS 18 and watchOS 11 are released next month. Live Activities, introduced in iOS 16.1, are lock screen notifications that continuously update. The new Sports notifications will include live scores and play-by-play info. Apple’s announcement also had a footnote that, “Live Activities will no longer be available in the Apple TV app with iOS 18.”

More features are “coming in an app update later this year.” Sports will get a drop-down menu for the main scoreboard views so it’ll be easier to switch between the scores you are following. And the search will be improved so that it’s easier to get info on games and leagues that are not favorited.

You can download the Sports app in the iOS App Store for free.