How to use Apple News Live Activities to track 2024 election

Apple News wants to be your one-stop shop for election coverage. Here are a few features offered by the app, including Live Activities with up-to-the-minute updates for your Lock Screen.

Election years can be a bit overwhelming when keeping up with the latest news, polls, and debates. Luckily, Apple has been enhancing how the Apple News app provides election coverage over the years to help simplify things.

Apple News and Live Activities

The most notable recent change we've noticed is Live Activity support for news coverage. The Iowa Caucus on January 15 seemed to be Apple News editors' first use of this feature.

Live Activities were introduced with iOS 16 as part of the feature overhaul for the iPhone 14 Pro's Dynamic Island. They are a special type of notification that stays visible in the Dynamic Island, and displays live updated information in a pop-up or on the Lock Screen.

With Apple News election coverage, Live Activities become quite useful. When the iPhone was locked, we could see a constantly updating tally of the Iowa Caucus and the percentage of delegates reporting.

An iPhone screen showing Iowa Republican Caucus results with Donald Trump as the winner at 54.5% and other candidates' percentages listed, over a stylized map background.

Live Activities from Apple News can keep you up to date

While navigating the iPhone, the Live Activity can be seen at any time by long pressing the Dynamic Island.

If a current story has the ability to show up as a Live Activity, it should show up at the top of the "Today" view. Tap "follow" in the corner of the story to create the Live Activity.

Special Election 2024 Coverage

Apple News has had a special election coverage section for years, but its feature set continues to expand. It can always be found by going to the Following tab and selecting "Election 2024" from the list.

Two iPhone screens show lists of selectable items to customize election news, like news sources and candidates.

Customize your election coverage in Apple News

Within this section is a new option to personalize election news. Tap into this to choose different sources, topics, and channels to follow. For example, we picked a couple of sources, our candidate of choice, and specific Tennessee coverage.

As election day approaches, the Election 2024 coverage in Apple News will become packed with important information. The "For You" portion of this helps keep track of the topics and candidates you're personally invested in.

Bonus: Apple News+ Audio

If you're looking for more general news coverage, we'd like to remind readers of an important resource we've relied upon since its inception — Apple News Audio and podcasts. The daily "Apple News Today" breaks down top stories in an easily digestible 10-minute segment.

An iPad screenshot of Apple News podcasts with three content options titled News+ Narrated, News In Conversation, and News Today, each with updates and a visual identifier.

Apple News podcasts in the Apple Podcasts app

Apple News+ subscribers and Apple One Premier members can also access audio versions of articles. Also, many of these stories are available alongside "Apple News Today" in the Apple Podcasts app for easier listening and queue management.

Whatever your political affiliation, the Apple News app wants to be your one-stop shop for political coverage. Live Activity integration makes this even more interesting, so we recommend everyone give it a try.