Apple has unveiled a real-time Live Activities feature within the Apple News app, delivering up-to-the-minute US election results directly to iPhone home and lock screens. This new addition lets users bypass traditional broadcast coverage for a more streamlined experience, updating election data right on their devices.

Upon launching Apple News today, users are prompted with a notification inviting them to "follow the election live" as Tuesday night unfolds. For those who may not receive the prompt — particularly outside the United States — there's an option to tap the “Follow the election live” banner on the app's homepage. Selecting this confirms that the Live Activity will be activated, standing ready for election updates as results start flowing in.

As polls close and votes are counted, this Live Activity springs to life, delivering instant updates on the home and lock screens. There’s no need to dive back into the app or refresh anything manually, as the widget dynamically refreshes with each electoral vote tally.

Apple’s Live Activity feature, first introduced with iOS 16.1 in late 2022, was originally designed to provide seamless updates for sports scores, ride-sharing progress, and more. Taking the form of an unobtrusive bar at the base of your lock screen or within the Dynamic Island on the home screen, it offers a quick, cohesive snapshot of information, enhancing the phone’s functionality without intrusive notifications.

These Live Activities differ slightly from standard widgets, which populate the home screen with essential information about battery levels, smart home gadgets, weather, media, and news updates. By distilling real-time data into a compact, accessible format, the Live Activities widget has set a new standard for intuitive, real-time information sharing