Friends, we have entered the best time of the year: football season. The Lions are off to an incredible start, the Vikings look dangerously good, and I’m constantly amazed at how bad the Browns are.

The 2024 season has been a lot of fun. Not only were the games fun, but I had a much better time keeping up with the latest games and scores on my phone. After half-heartedly using the ESPN app last year and the year before, I decided to go all-in on Apple Sports this year and couldn’t be happier. If you have an iPhone and don’t already use Apple Sports, this reminds you that you definitely need one.

A clean, simple and ad-free interface

If you haven’t tried Apple Sports before, I don’t blame you. The application was launched in February with little fanfare and Apple just an important update this is august. That’s the whole story of the app so far.

Compared to other sports apps, Apple Sports is objectively much more limited. Sports-related news articles or videos, team rosters, replays, etc. no. At first glance it seems pretty simple, and for some people that might be off-putting. But for me, that’s exactly why I love using it.

Only the “home page” of the app shows upcoming games. You can change the types of games displayed here by tapping the menu bar at the top, which lets you switch between your favorite teams and leagues (like the NFL or college football’s Big Ten). You can also use the search function to browse specific teams/leagues and add them to your favourites. It’s a great user interface compared to Apple’s other mobile apps, but it works well once you get the hang of it.

Open Apple Sports on match day and the Today page offers a great bird’s eye view of the action. Points are clearly presented. You see which team has the ball and where the ball is. The current quarter and remaining time appear. You see everything you need to see at a glance.

Apple Sports does a great job of showing you more in-depth details when you tap on a specific game. Football matches feature a virtual football field below the score that shows the current placement of the ball, and as you scroll it switches to a smaller version at the top of the screen.

The Stats page shows a clean breakdown of team stats for the current game, Play-By-Play offers a more precise breakdown of each game, and the Standings page is the perfect reference to see where teams stand in their current league. It’s everything I expect from a sports app without any unnecessary hassle.

The best part? You get all this with zero advertising. None. Zilch. Nada. This is good.

Live Events make it even better

While I love the in-app experience of Apple Sports, it’s even better because it works so well when you’re not using it. When a match for one of your favorite teams is in progress, a Live Event will automatically appear on your lock screen, so you can follow the game without having to open the app.

Live Events look great, showing the score, remaining time and latest matches. You may also have multiple games on your lock screen if two or three of your favorite teams are playing.

If you have an iPhone with Dynamic Island (for example iPhone 16), your sports scores can also live here. By default, you’ll see each team’s score, but if you long-press on it, it expands to show the entire Live Events card. Truly a perfect setup.

My new favorite sports app

I’ve been using Apple Sports exclusively to follow scores for the last few weeks and have no plans to switch back to ESPN or any other app.

Do I wish there were more detailed team/player stats? Certainly. Would it be nice if app navigation was more compatible with other Apple apps? Yes. Is it annoying that I can’t download Apple Sports to my computer? android phone? Definitely.

Apple Sports isn’t a perfect app, but it’s impressive how good it is for an app that’s less than a year old. It nails the basics of a good fitness app without any annoying bloat or ads. It’s worth using in its current form, and with a few future updates it could be the best sports app on the market.