iOS Live Activities Explained

What are Live Activities on iPhone?

Live Activities are a new way for brands to make important user information visible from the iPhone Lock Screen and the Dynamic Island. App customers can now see live information at a glance without unlocking their devices and keep tabs on things happening in real time. Rather than customers receiving multiple notifications from the same app for things like the game’s latest score, food delivery orders or ride-share arrivals, this information can now be pinned to the Lock Screen, keeping the customer up to date without them having to unlock their phone. Starting with iOS 16.1, developers can use Live Activities API to create these compact and glanceable experiences.

Don’t leave Android users behind: Unique to Airship, brands can be consistent in the experience they deliver with Live Updates for Android.

How do Live Activities work?

iPhone Live Activities display real-time content from your app on the Lock Screen. Additionally, newer iPhone models utilize Live Activities with the Always-On Display, which Apple calls the Dynamic Island when the phone is unlocked. Brands can utilize iOS Live Activities to ensure customers never miss critical information at critical moments – even when they’re not in the app.

Live Activities depend on the same push notification system that handles other types of notifications, including banners, alerts, and badges. Since iOS 17, when an app user opts in to push notifications, they are opted in to Live Activities by default. Users then have the option to turn push notifications and Live Activities on and off independently in their phone settings. To launch a Live Activity, Apple also required the app user to take a specific action, e.g. ordering a ride or checking in. Since push notifications have a different format from Live Activities, a user can still receive push notifications as usual while a Live Activity is happening.

How can Live Activities increase app engagement with my users?

Live Activities give brands another app experience they can deliver to their audience directly on the Lock Screen. But what exactly are Live Activities on iPhone used for? Here are some Live Activities use cases we have identified so far:

Day-of-travel app — Your itinerary updates throughout the day
Sports news app — Game summary, player stats, real-time scores and key metrics
Fitness tracker app — Health and overall stats on your walk, run, etc.
News app — Election results, real-time projections, opinion poll results
Package delivery app — Track your order, time-sensitive updates on delivery status
Restaurant app — Track wait time for when your table is ready or the status of your order for delivery or pickup
Retail — Delivery updates for curbside or in-store pickup, etc.

Examples of apps that use Live Activities

So, what are Live Activities on iPhone most commonly used for? Here are some real-life examples of how iOS Live Activities can look across various app types.

Starbucks – Starbucks uses Live Activities on iPhone to keep customers in the loop from the second they place their pickup order on the mobile app. Users can see a live timeline on their Lock Screen that tracks when their order is received, when it’s being made and the exact moment it’s ready for pickup. This real-time communication streamlines the pickup process and boosts customer satisfaction by reducing wait times and uncertainty.

Restaurants – A national Quick Service Restaurant brand utilized live activities for order tracking and found that customers who receive live activities had 50% more app sessions than customers who did not (Source: Airship Customer Insights, 2024).

Flighty – This app directly updates flyers about flight statuses on the Lock Screen. Once a user adds a flight to Flighty, they can see up-to-date information about the flight’s status, including delays, early arrivals and gate numbers. This immediate, at-a-glance data makes travel less stressful and more efficient.

Pestle – Pestle uses Live Activities to display cooking steps on the Lock Screen so users can follow recipe instructions and set timers without unlocking their phones and dirtying their devices. This keeps their hands free for cooking and the necessary information in front of them.

Sports alerts – By enabling Live Activities on iPhone, users can watch scores directly from their Lock Screen in real time. The app allows users to track multiple games simultaneously, so it’s easy to stay updated without switching between different apps or screens. This is clearly resonating with app users: customers who enable Live Activities on sports apps have 3.7x more sessions than devices who do not use Live Activities. (Source: Airship Customer Insights, 2024).

Liftin’ – gym workout tracker – Live Activities on the Liftin’ app lets gym-goers track and manage fitness routines from their Lock Screen to focus more on their workouts and less on device interaction. As they progress their routine, Live Activities displays real-time updates of workout details, such as the number of sets completed or the weights used without manual data entry. Plus, the Apple Health integration ensures all workout data counts toward activity rings on the Apple Watch for a motivational boost.

Grocery – smart shopping list – Live Activities allows shoppers to view their list on their iPhone’s Lock Screen. The feature keeps the list organized and synchronized in real time with iCloud and Reminders, so it’s continuously updated. With this feature, shoppers can track what items have been added or checked off without unlocking their phones. This streamlines the shopping process and makes it quicker to see what items are left to buy as they move through the store.

Excited to learn more about the impact of iOS Live Activities? Check out how some sports apps increased app sessions by 600% during March Madness by integrating Live Activities into their functionality.

What functionality of your app can integrate with iPhone Live Activities?

Push notifications play an important role in iOS Live Activities but add complexity, as each Live Activity has its own pushToken to manage. A Live Activity is active for up to 8 hours unless your app or the user explicitly ends it. Your app can update the content of a Live Activity from the app if it is active and can use push notifications to update it whether it’s active or suspended. Each update to your Live Activity can include up to 4KB of data. Here is a straightforward example of a push notification that updates the driver name and estimated delivery time of a Live Activity:

As a concept, Live Activities are a lot like Widgets, except for their focus on hyper-personalized, discrete activities customers want to track in real-time with little setup. This glanceability will likely become a significant part of the Apple iPhone experience. The iPhone 14 Pro lineup includes an Always-On Display and Dynamic Island, which take visibility and interactivity to new levels. As a result, apps get more surface area for compelling experiences with active state controls, even if another app is in the foreground.

Best practices when integrating Live Activities into your app

Integrating iOS Live Activities into your app can drastically improve the user experience with real-time updates directly on the iPhone’s Lock Screen. But if you want to make sure these features are effective and appropriate, there are some best practices to consider. Apple recently released the Live Activities Human Interface Design Guide, which includes the following best practices:

Prioritize key details – Live Activities should only display essential information users can understand at a glance. Prioritize the most helpful information in a Live Activity and adjust its size and prominence relative to other content. If you want to provide the option to get more detailed information, simply enable users to tap the Live Activity and open your app for additional details.

Hide sensitive information – Since Live Activities are visible on the Lock Screen, try not to display any sensitive or private information that others could see, such as personal messages, health information, banking details, personal contact information or location history. If necessary, show a general summary on the Lock Screen and allow users to view more sensitive information by tapping the Live Activity to open the app.

Optimize Live Activities for various locations – Live Activities are displayed across different locations and devices, so supporting all potential appearances is vital. Design your Live Activity to adapt to various system-wide features and carefully consider the layout so it works well wherever it appears.

Keep the Dynamic Island discreet – Do not create app elements to draw attention to the Dynamic Island. Live Activities should seamlessly integrate into this area without altering its intended design or functionality.

Limit scope and duration of Live Activities – Live Activities are ideal for tasks and live events with a clear start and end. They should be used to track activities or ongoing tasks that last for short to medium durations. Avoid using Live Activities for tasks that exceed eight hours and ensure they end immediately after the task or event concludes.

Support dark mode and always-on mode: You must ensure Live Activities are optimized for Dark Mode and Always-On displays to improve visibility and user experience. Your designs, assets and colors should maintain readability and contrast in both modes.

Limitations of Live Activities

While iOS Live Activities offer a practical way to keep users engaged with real-time information on their iPhone Lock Screens, they also have a few limitations that developers and users should be aware of:

Duration constraints – Live Activities only stay active on the Lock Screen for 8 hours. If not manually removed by the user, the system may keep them displayed for up to 4 extra hours, which caps the maximum duration at 12 hours. This makes Live Activities less appropriate for tracking longer-duration events or tasks.

Platform specificity – The iOS Live Activities feature is exclusive to iPhone users, which limits its utility to iOS environments. Airship is the first and only solution to deliver comparable live experiences on Android with Live Updates, ensuring consistency / delivering a unified experience between platforms.

Restrictions on content – According to Apple, Live Activities is not designed to support promotional or advertising purposes. The primary function is to enhance the user experience by providing valuable, task-oriented information. This restriction ensures that Live Activities remains a tool for user engagement and convenience rather than a new advertising space.

Battery usage – As Live Activities update content in real time and are designed to be always visible on the Lock Screen, they can lead to increased battery drain. This might concern users who are already struggling with battery life among multiple device apps and functionalities.

Opt-in requirement – Unlike some automatically available features, certain Live Activities require users to enable them. This adds an extra step that could deter the adoption of Live Activities among your app’s audience. If users are unaware of Live Activities, you can increase awareness and adoption by informing them through push notifications or in-app messages about the benefits of Live Activities for their app experience.

How can I improve mobile app experiences with iPhone Live Activities?

Providing real-time updates from your app to a user’s lock screen with Airship has lots of benefits:

Real-time mobile moments – Provide app customers with live updates for the mobile moments that mean the most to them, keeping them informed with just a glance.
Target relevant audiences – Leverage Airship’s robust data and segmentation capabilities to share different Live Activities with the customers who will find them most captivating. Segment criteria can simply be included when using the Airship API call for Live Activities.
Orchestrate channels – Align your Live Activities with email and in-app experiences like Scenes.
Put your user in control – While Apple does not have a specific opt-in prompt for Live Activities, Airship’s Preference Center and Subscription lists offer a way to allow users to manage opting in and out of Live Activities inside your app.
Save time and resource – Live Activities are part of the Airship SDK, meaning we’ll manage tokens and implement key updates from Apple so brands don’t have to. For example, iOS 17.2 included ‘push-to-start’ functionality for Live Activities, enabling Live Activities to be started even when the app is closed.

Treat Live Activities as an extension of the mobile app by providing in-the-moment updates on the Lock Screen and linking directly to the most relevant app pages when a Live Activity is interacted with.

Start using iOS Live Activities with Airship today

With mobile speed always top of mind, Airship makes Live Activities easy to manage and update, providing brands with yet another great way to engage with customers without ever needing them to unlock their iPhones. Thanks to Airship’s unique Live Updates solution, Android users can enjoy the same experience as iPhone users.

Airship Live Activities functionality allows brands to initialize and manage the Live Activities lifecycle, segment customers to receive Live Activities and report on Live Activities performance. The Airship Experience Platform powers the orchestration of customer journeys by integrating Live Activities with other channels, inside and outside the app.

Airship manages the complexity of Live Activity token management so your team can focus on creating compelling, in-the-moment customer experiences on the iPhone Lock Screen and everywhere else. We utilize our existing push API to make it as easy as possible for you to instantly update valuable content, such as sports scores, flight updates and order status. Contact us today to learn more or get a demo!