2024 Election: Apple News Live Activities Keep You Updated, Your iPhone and Apple Watch Will be "Nervous" Too

2024 Election: Apple News Live Activities Keep You Updated, Your iPhone and Apple Watch Will be "Nervous" TooDuring the 2024 election, if you want to stay updated on the latest election results, Apple News offers a unique way to get real-time results directly on your lock screen and Apple Watch via Live Activities.Initially, Live Activities were designed to leverage the Dynamic Island, showing users real-time updates like music playback, sports scores, and ongoing calls

2024 Election: Apple News Live Activities Keep You Updated, Your iPhone and Apple Watch Will be "Nervous" Too

During the 2024 election, if you want to stay updated on the latest election results, Apple News offers a unique way to get real-time results directly on your lock screen and Apple Watch via Live Activities.

Initially, Live Activities were designed to leverage the Dynamic Island, showing users real-time updates like music playback, sports scores, and ongoing calls. However, Apple News has applied it to a more nerve-wracking purpose, allowing you to track election results in real time.

Starting Tuesday night, users can receive election results Live Activities through Apple News. This means a dynamic widget will appear on your lock screen that will display the latest election coverage when tapped, while the Dynamic Island will continuously show the vote count for each candidate. So whether you're scrolling through iMessage or debating with relatives, you'll have a constant reminder of the specific situation as Americans vote for their future.

Of course, if you wish to maintain a moment of peace, you can simply swipe away the Dynamic Island content and close it without affecting the Live Activities.

Here's how to activate the US election results Live Activities:

1. Open Apple News.

2. Tap on the prominent "Follow the 2024 Election Live" banner at the top of the page or under "Top Stories."

3. If you don't see the banner, go to the "2024 Election" special coverage section in the menu.

4. You will see a notification about enabling "Live Activities."

5. Tap the banner again to turn off the scheduled Live Activities.

Live Activities will appear on your iPhone and iPad's lock screen, but only devices with the Dynamic Island have access to the special UI. The Apple Watch can also display Live Activities data in its Widget view.

Apple News launched Live Activities for caucus results earlier this year, which proved to be a useful way to track the events. While the stakes are much higher for the actual election, the tool will be a great way to quickly check immediate results while avoiding polarized news coverage.

It remains unclear how long Apple News will keep the "Live Activities" active, as initial results may take days, and the final outcome won't be known until December 11th. The US election will be an interesting stress test, testing user interaction with the feature and its persistence hours after activation.

This is a great opportunity for both those who want to closely follow election results and for those interested in this new feature to experience how Live Activities are changing how we consume information.