It’s Election Day in the U.S., which means you’re likely glued to the latest news about which presidential candidate is currently in the lead. To help with this, Apple has released a Live Activities widget within its Apple News app that will offer real-time election updates directly on your iPhone or iPad’s Home Screen and Lock Screen.
The widget itself takes advantage of the feature that allows iOS apps to continually update their widget with new information, instead of offering a static view of data that doesn’t change. This feature, which Apple calls “Live Activities,” was introduced with the release of iOS 16 in 2022, and can be useful for widgets that point to current information, like news, stocks, or weather, for example.
To use the Apple News Live Activity, U.S. you’ll need to first launch the News app and then tap on the banner at the top of the page offering live updates. After doing so, you’ll get a message saying “Live Activity Scheduled” which notes that when the event starts, you’ll begin to receive real-time updates on both your Home Screen and Lock Screen. (The iPad gained Live Activities on the Lock Screen in iOS 17.)
The widget will display the real-time electoral count updates as they come in from across the U.S. states.
You can also choose to add other traditional Apple News widgets set to follow the latest news or the Elections 2024 “topic” from your Home Screen, which will highlight top stories.
In addition to the Live Activities widget, the Apple News app offers an in-app U.S. Elections hub, “America Votes 2024.” Here, Apple News will feature the top election news, a guide on how to vote, and ways to dive into news from specific battlefield states, including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Minnesota. With another tap, you can head deeper into full election coverage, including news stories as well as perspectives and analysis, and those focused on specific campaign issues, like the climate, economy, health care, immigration, reproductive rights, and more.
From this screen, you can also keep up with the latest on the Republican, Democratic, and third-party candidates by reading a curated selection of stories on each.
