College basketball tournaments and the start of the baseball season have traditionally kept sports fans glued to their televisions this time of year. But how can you keep up when you can’t watch?
Whether you’re stuck in the office or at your cousin’s wedding, smartphones have you covered. Most offer free apps that can display not only live scores but also in-depth game details on the lock screen (and elsewhere) to keep you updated.
Here’s a quick look at ways you can stay in the game, even when you can’t watch it.
Using the Google App
Google’s search app (for Android and iOS) is one easily available option for tracking live games. To get started, open the Google app and search for a game that’s close to starting. (Tap the “Follow” button next to a topic to have Google regularly provide updates.)
When you find the game, look for the “Pin Live Score” button. If you searched for a specific team, you may get the option to automatically pin its future games to your phone’s screen, too. As the game progresses, you should see the current score displayed in a small onscreen bubble no matter which app you’re using. Tap the score bubble to open the Google app for more information, like play-by-play descriptions and player statistics.
A recent update to the “At a Glance” feature for Google’s Pixel phones can automatically show the games of teams you follow displayed in a bigger floating bar on the lock screen.
Samsung Galaxy phone models that feature the “Now” bar (a lock-screen widget that shows current information) can also display scores from the teams you follow in the Google app. Open Settings, go to “Lock Screen and AOD,” select “Now Bar” and then enable “Sports From Google.”
Apple Sports has an online guide, but the software is fairly intuitive. When you first open it, tap through until you see the main Apple Sports home screen with the “Get Started” button. Tap that, and you have the option to follow team news through the “My Sports” feature in Apple’s other media apps (like Apple News), and select the sports, leagues and teams you like on the next screen.
The app’s main screen displays game scores for your selected sports and teams. To have the live score displayed on your phone’s lock screen so you can follow along, tap a game icon to open its full window, then tap the small clock under the scoreboard. Tapping the scoreboard on your lock screen takes you back to the Apple Sports page with all the game details.
To make Apple Sports automatically display live scores for your preferred teams, tap the Home icon in the upper-right corner of the main screen and then tap the settings icon. On the Event Updates screen, select the teams you always wish to follow live.
Using Third-Party Apps
There are plenty of independent apps devoted to live scores, updates and sports news. Some may offer in-app purchases for additional features.
Most major sports leagues have their own apps — as do many individual teams within those leagues. Spend some time searching through your app store if you’re looking for a certain fan experience.
If you are following the progress of a specific sporting event, you can likely find a bespoke app.
For example, the championship tournament for men’s and women’s college basketball, otherwise known as N.C.A.A. March Madness, has multiple apps for keeping tabs on all the games. You can even create your own bracket of predicted winners. The N.C.A.A. March Madness Live app (for Android and iOS) focuses on the men’s tournament but also has content for the women’s tourney, and the N.C.A.A. Women’s March Madness app is devoted to the women’s games.
The quadrennial men’s soccer spectacular, the FIFA World Cup, arrives in June. The official tournament app (for Android and iOS) is already available for those who want to check the schedule against a personal calendar to see which matches they can watch live and which will require those live score updates.
