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MLB App Now Supports Live Activities

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The dedicated MLB app for the iPhone now supports Live Activities following an update that was introduced yesterday. With Live Activities, MLB users can follow their favorite teams without the need to open the app, keeping track of scores right from the Lock Screen.

mlb-banner.jpg

On the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, scores can also be tracked through the Dynamic Island. After updating to the latest version of the app, users can choose the "Track" option from the list of games to add the up-to-date scoring to the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island.

Live Activities for MLB games was already offered through Apple's own TV app, but until this week, the MLB app itself did not support the feature. Live Activities have been available for third-party apps since the October release of iOS 16.1. Given that the MLB partners with Apple for content, it is not clear why it took so long for the feature to be implemented.

live-activities-mlb-app.jpg
Image via MacRumors reader jedimasterkyle​

The MLB app was updated for the 2023 season yesterday, and in addition to Live Activities support, the app now includes a new onboarding experience, a Watch tab with 24/7 programming available, 2023 team schedules and tickets, a refreshed standings page, and more.

The MLB app can be downloaded from the App Store for free, but unlocking all content will require a subscription. Access to every out-of-market game costs $24.99 per month or $150 for the year. [Direct Link]

Friday Night Baseball games will resume on Apple TV+ when the 2023 season begins. The first games are set to premiere on Friday, April 7, with the Texas Rangers playing the Chicago Cubs and the San Diego Padres playing the Atlanta Braves.

Article Link: MLB App Now Supports Live Activities
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/03/09/mlb-app-live-activities/
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I don't follow sports (which seems to be a common use case for live activities), but here in the USA I have yet to see a single live activity from any of the ride-sharing or delivery apps.
 
machpost said:
How do I add a game so it shows up as a Live Activity?
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From the MLB app, go into the "Scores" tab. From there, you'll see an option to track a game. Click on the track game button and you'll get something like this

IMG_2786.jpg


What's interesting though is that this only seemed to work for the Red Sox/Yankees game today. I tried to do the same thing with the Dodgers and Mariners game and wasnt given the option to track the game. Also, changing your "Favorite" team didnt seem to do anything either but that might be a thing they change later on.
 
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BaldiMac said:
Can live activities start automatically for the team you follow? With the Apple TV app, I have to go into each individual NBA game to activate the live activity.
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Not from what I've observed. The only app that comes closest to that kind of feature is the Sports Alerts app. You can set up game start alerts for your teams and when you get the notification on your lock screen or apple watch, you long press on either one and a "Start live activity" option is presented. That's the only "automation" I've found so far.
 
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jedimasterkyle said:
From the MLB app, go into the "Scores" tab. From there, you'll see an option to track a game. Click on the track game button and you'll get something like this

View attachment 2171076

What's interesting though is that this only seemed to work for the Red Sox/Yankees game today. I tried to do the same thing with the Dodgers and Mariners game and wasnt given the option to track the game. Also, changing your "Favorite" team didnt seem to do anything either but that might be a thing they change later on.
Click to expand...
Seeing the same thing, doesn't work for anyone but the favorite team I had when I installed the app.
 
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I'm also not seeing any way to Track games, and I do see that I have yesterday's update installed. Although there's no mention of Live Activities in the release notes (v16.0.0), and for something that big you'd think it would be one of the 7 bullet points along with "General bug fixes and performance optimizations"...

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
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gank41 said:
I'm also not seeing any way to Track games, and I do see that I have yesterday's update installed. Although there's no mention of Live Activities in the release notes (v16.0.0), and for something that big you'd think it would be one of the 7 bullet points along with "General bug fixes and performance optimizations"...

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Click to expand...
Like I said, it seemed to only be available for the Red Sox/Yankees game today. Youre right though, there was no mention of it being activated in the release notes which makes me think it's a very slow and quiet roll out which is dumb but that's MLB for you.
 
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jedimasterkyle said:
Like I said, it seemed to only be available for the Red Sox/Yankees game today. Youre right though, there was no mention of it being activated in the release notes which makes me think it's a very slow and quiet roll out which is dumb but that's MLB for you.
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Hopefully it will auto-track games. It would be silly to open the app for every single game to tap Track.
 
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temende said:
I don't follow sports (which seems to be a common use case for live activities), but here in the USA I have yet to see a single live activity from any of the ride-sharing or delivery apps.
Click to expand...

I think a lot of businesses do not use these features that take the user out of their apps since they want you to engage WITH / inside the app
 
How come Apple's own Live Activities took a big step backward on the TV app? With preseason games, not only are there no Live Activities at all anymore, but the scores don't update in real time anymore either
 
It’s turned on in Settings for the app, but I’m still not offered the option to track any games today.
 

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contacos said:
I think a lot of businesses do not use these features that take the user out of their apps since they want you to engage WITH / inside the app
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That doesn't fully explain apps like Uber not having it. They already send out live status updates via push notifications.
 
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gleepskip said:
Hopefully it will auto-track games. It would be silly to open the app for every single game to tap Track.
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That would be awesome but I'm not expecting much from MLB. Like any other app, user interaction is more important than user friendly features.
 
xpxp2002 said:
It’s turned on in Settings for the app, but I’m still not offered the option to track any games today.
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It only seemed to be for the Red Sox/Yankees game today so check tomorrow to see if it's available for other teams/games. It wouldn't surprise me if they are doing a quiet test run to see how well it works or what the reception is.
 
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jedimasterkyle said:
It only seemed to be for the Red Sox/Yankees game today so check tomorrow to see if it's available for other teams/games. It wouldn't surprise me if they are doing a quiet test run to see how well it works or what the reception is.
Click to expand...
I saw a screenshot of it showing the Blue Jays/Rays game today, too.

I was more concerned that they were going to lock it behind an MLB.tv subscription.
 
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