An Ode is Owed To Apple Sports

Zac Hall at 9to5 Mac reported this week Apple updated its Apple Sports app with a new social feature the company calls Game Card Sharing. The update, he writes, comes just in time for Sunday’s F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The race can be seen on ESPN, ESPN+, and F1 TV. To date, Apple Sports remains (frustratingly) exclusive to iOS and the iPhone.

“Game Card Sharing generates dynamic game cards, not just static game stats, for any league supported by Apple Sports,” Hall said in describing the newly-announced functionality in Apple Sports. “These cards can be shared directly from Apple Sports over iMessage or on social media for events that are live, upcoming, or completed.”

I’m happy to report it surely didn’t take long for Apple Sports to become one of my most favorite, and oft-used, apps since it debuted in February of last year. My pal and peer Jason Snell at Six Colors posted an interview with Apple services chief Eddy Cue when the app came out, with Cue telling Snell in part the raison d'être for building Apple Sports is because “I just want to get the damn score of the game.” He added Apple sought to make Apple Sports “the best scores app that you could possibly make.”

That last sentiment feels not the least bit blustery; Apple Sports is damn good. As a diehard sports fan, the app has made keeping track of, say, the Giants, 49ers, and Warriors more accessible (and enjoyable!) to me. I love the design of the app—the aforementioned Game Cards are beautiful and the scores are presented with large digits—while also enjoying how the Game Cards has detailed information like stats and more. If I had one complaint, it’s that the logistical info—venue, start time, and TV listings—are way down at the bottom of the Game Card. Such pertinent information should be on top, in my opinion—especially given Apple thought it fitting to include a “Open in tv” button in that space. Moreover, Apple Sports shines particularly brightly if you, like me, have an iPhone with a Dynamic Island. Keeping tabs of my favorite teams are made even more accessible; so much so, in fact, that I would never consider an iPhone like the 16e, which omits the Dynamic Island. Apple Sports exemplifies a point a made to another Apple executive in Alan Dye, who leads the company’s famed industrial design group. I spoke with him for a few minutes in the hands-on area in Steve Jobs Theater after the iPhone 14 press event in September 2022. My biggest piece of feedback was emphasizing how the Dynamic Island could make tracking things like kitchen timers and, in this case, sports scores more accessible than hopping from app to app. Apple Sports is an exemplar of that notion. Live Activities is a great feature/API.

All this praise I’ve heaped onto Apple Sports thus far is, while merited, doesn’t mean the app is beyond reproach. It’s not! Every time I see a story about Apple Sports getting an update, as I did this week, I wait with bated breath to see if Apple has brought the app to the iPad. It kills me, some 18 months later, that Apple Sports still isn’t there yet. I could technically use the iPhone app on iPadOS, but I’d rather have a native app. This is much in the same vein as how I’d rather use native Mac apps than resort to web apps in Safari.

Call me a snob, but I simply prefer native apps to web apps most of the time.

At this point, Instagram may release its unicorn iPad app before Apple Sports gets one.

Another bit of criticism for Apple Sports is the incessant banner ad in the app I see for MLS Season Pass. I like the league, and I’ve thought about signing up, but it feels intrusive and distasteful to put an ad in a place with ostensibly such a narrow focus.

Anyway, go to the App Store and get Apple Sports if you haven’t already. It’s the best.