12 Live Activities Examples: How Top Apps Use the iPhone Lock Screen to Drive Engagement

You're waiting at the gate. Your flight's been moved — but you don't know it yet. Then a glance at your lock screen: "Gate changed to B12. Boarding in 8 minutes." No app launch. No notification hunt. Just the right information, right there.

That's an iPhone live activity in action. Unlike push notifications that disappear after a swipe, live activities persist on the lock screen and Dynamic Island — updating in real time for as long as the event lasts. According to Apple's ActivityKit documentation , live activities can refresh up to once per second on the Dynamic Island and support both compact and expanded presentation modes.

Apps like Flighty, Uber, and Starbucks have already proven the model: real-time lock screen content that drives app opens, reduces support inquiries, and keeps users engaged without interrupting them. This guide breaks down 12 live activities examples across five industries — with design takeaways you can apply to increase retention in your own app.

6 Ways Live Activities Drive Higher App Engagement Than Push Alone

Push notifications have a well-documented limitation: users dismiss or ignore them. According to Airship's 2024 Mobile App Experience Report, the average opt-in rate for push notifications sits at 59% on iOS — and even opted-in users open fewer than 10% of the notifications they receive. Live activities solve this by keeping information visible without requiring any user action.

• Persistent Visibility: Unlike push notifications that vanish after a swipe, lock screen updates remain visible for the duration of the event — whether that's a 3-hour flight or a 30-minute food delivery.
• Real-Time Updates Without Interruption: ActivityKit supports live data refresh via push tokens, letting apps update the lock screen and Dynamic Island without triggering a new notification each time.
• Lower Friction to Re-engage: Users tap the live activity to jump directly into the relevant screen — skipping the home screen, app launcher, and navigation. This shortens the path from glance to action.
• Context-Aware Personalization: Displayed information is scoped to the user's current task (their ride, their order, their run). This relevance makes the feature feel like a service, not a marketing push.
• Habit Formation Through Routine Exposure: Users who see their app on the lock screen multiple times per session develop stronger brand recall. According to Braze's 2024 Customer Engagement Review, apps with persistent touchpoints see 2.7x higher 30-day retention compared to notification-only strategies.
• Dynamic Island Integration: On iPhone 14 Pro and later, live activities also surface in the Dynamic Island — a high-visibility area that stays active even when using other apps. This dual-surface presence multiplies engagement opportunities.

12 Live Activities Examples That Keep Users on the Lock Screen

The following live activity implementations span five industries — from ride-hailing to personal finance. Each example includes the specific lock screen data displayed, the business problem it solves, and a design takeaway for developers building their own ActivityKit integration.

#1 Uber — Transport & Delivery

Uber displays the driver's real-time location, estimated arrival time, and vehicle details directly on the lock screen. For riders, this eliminates the need to repeatedly open the app to check ride status — a pattern that previously generated a significant volume of "where's my driver" support requests. The design uses a compact layout with a live map pin that updates every few seconds, giving users continuous reassurance without notification fatigue.

Developer takeaway: When your core user anxiety is "waiting for something to arrive," a persistent countdown with live location data is the highest-value lock screen pattern.

#2 Wolt — Food Delivery

Wolt breaks the delivery process into clear stages — order confirmed, preparing, picked up, and arriving — displayed as a progress tracker on the lock screen. Each stage transition triggers an update via ActivityKit push tokens. This approach reduces "where's my food" inquiries by giving users a single glance answer to the most common delivery question.

Developer takeaway: Multi-stage progress trackers work best when each stage represents a meaningful state change the user cares about. Avoid updating for internal system events the user doesn't need to see.

#3 Transit — Public Transport

Transit surfaces bus and train ETAs, step-by-step route directions, and service disruption alerts on the lock screen. For public transit riders, timing is critical — missing a connection by 30 seconds means a 15-minute wait. The live activity gives riders a continuous countdown they can check at a glance while walking to the stop, without needing to unlock their phone.

Developer takeaway: For time-sensitive, multi-step journeys, the lock screen should show the single most urgent piece of information (next action + countdown), not the full route.

#4 Flighty — Travel

Flighty became one of the most recognized live activities apps after launching its ActivityKit integration in late 2022 — one of the first third-party apps to do so. The lock screen shows flight status, gate information, and a countdown to departure. When delays or gate changes occur, the activity updates before the airline's own app in many cases. According to Flighty's public release notes , the feature contributed to the app reaching the #1 paid travel app position on the App Store.

Developer takeaway: Being first to deliver critical information (before competitors or even the source itself) creates irreplaceable user trust. Flighty's gate change alerts arriving before airline apps is the clearest example of this pattern.

#5 FotMob — Sports

FotMob uses both the lock screen and Dynamic Island to display live football scores, match time, and key events (goals, red cards, substitutions). The app leverages compact and expanded presentation modes — the compact view shows the score, while tapping expands to reveal recent match events. For sports fans following a 90-minute match, this persistent lock screen presence keeps the app relevant for the entire duration without a single push notification.

Developer takeaway: Use the compact/expanded view split strategically. Put the single most-checked data point (score) in compact view, and use expanded for supporting details users check less frequently.

#6 Starbucks — Food & Beverage

Starbucks integrated iPhone live activities into its mobile order flow. When you place an order, the lock screen shows preparation status — from "order received" to "ready for pickup." For stores handling hundreds of mobile orders per day, this real-time status display reduces the number of customers hovering at the counter asking "is my order ready?" — improving both customer experience and barista workflow.

Developer takeaway: Live activities work exceptionally well for reducing physical-world friction . If your app bridges digital ordering and in-person pickup, a lock screen status tracker is the highest-impact feature you can build.

#7 Coffee Book — Food & Beverage

Coffee Book uses a single-purpose live activity: a brew timer on the lock screen. While simple, this implementation drives daily active use — coffee enthusiasts start the timer every morning, creating a habitual touchpoint with the app. The activity displays time remaining and brew method, letting users step away from their phone without missing the extraction window.

Developer takeaway: You don't need complex real-time data to justify a live activity. A well-executed countdown timer that serves a daily routine can drive retention as effectively as a full tracking dashboard.

#8 Money Coach — Finance

Money Coach uses the lock screen activity as a quick-entry interface for logging transactions and checking income/expense balance. For personal finance apps, the biggest challenge is getting users to log transactions consistently. By surfacing the entry point on the lock screen, Money Coach reduces the friction from "unlock → find app → navigate to entry screen" to a single tap — significantly increasing logging frequency.

Developer takeaway: For apps where the core action requires frequent, low-effort input (expense logging, habit tracking, time logging), a lock screen shortcut removes the single biggest barrier to consistent use.

#9 Nike Run Club — Fitness

Nike Run Club displays pace, distance, and elapsed time on the lock screen during active runs. For runners, the alternative is either wearing a smartwatch or stopping to pull out their phone and unlock it — both of which break running rhythm. The lock screen activity lets runners glance at stats mid-stride, keeping them focused and in flow.

Developer takeaway: Fitness apps should prioritize the 2-3 metrics users check most often. Nike Run Club avoids data overload by showing only pace, distance, and time — not heart rate, elevation, or cadence.

#10 Forest — Productivity

Forest — a focus and productivity app — uses live activities to display the current focus session timer and virtual tree growth progress. Users can start a new focus session directly from the lock screen without launching the app. The gamification element (watching your tree grow) adds a visual incentive to stay focused.

Developer takeaway: Gamification translates well to the lock screen. If your app uses visual progress indicators (streaks, growth, levels), surfacing them on the lock screen reinforces the reward loop.

#11 Calzy — Productivity

Calzy takes a creative approach: using the live activity as a fully functional calculator accessible directly from the lock screen. This implementation earned the app a spot among the top picks in the App Store productivity category. It demonstrates that live activities aren't limited to tracking use cases — they can serve as lightweight app surfaces for any task that benefits from instant access.

Developer takeaway: Think beyond tracking. Any frequently used, single-screen utility (calculator, unit converter, tip splitter) is a strong candidate for a lock screen activity.

#12 CARROT Weather — Weather & Utilities

CARROT Weather surfaces current temperature, conditions, and severe weather alerts on the lock screen. The app refreshes conditions periodically and pushes urgent alerts (storm warnings, temperature drops) as real-time updates. For users in regions with rapidly changing weather, this persistent visibility turns the lock screen into a personal weather dashboard they check habitually throughout the day.

Developer takeaway: For ambient information (weather, air quality, stock prices), live activities work as a "passive monitoring" layer. The key is balancing update frequency — too frequent drains battery; too infrequent makes the feature feel static.

How to Add Live Activities to Your App: A Framework for Product Teams

Building a live activity requires Apple's ActivityKit framework (available since iOS 16.1). The technical implementation involves defining a widget extension, creating an ActivityAttributes struct, and managing updates via push tokens or local updates. But the harder question isn't how to build it — it's what to show.

Based on the 12 examples above, successful live activity implementations share three design principles:

• Show the single most-checked data point in compact view. Uber shows ETA. FotMob shows the score. Flighty shows gate + countdown. Don't try to compress your entire app into the lock screen.
• Update only on meaningful state changes. Wolt updates on stage transitions (preparing → picked up → arriving). CARROT Weather updates on condition changes. Avoid high-frequency polling that drains battery without adding user value.
• Design for glanceability. Users look at the lock screen for 1-2 seconds. If your activity requires reading or interpretation, it needs simplification.

For teams that want to combine live activities with broader engagement channels — push notifications , SMS, email, or in-app messaging — platforms like EngageLab provide a unified workflow that coordinates across channels from a single dashboard. This is particularly relevant when live activities end (after 8 hours or when the event completes) and you need fallback channels to continue the conversation.

Common Questions About Implementing Live Activities

What iOS versions support live activities?

Live activities require iOS 16.1 or later . Dynamic Island support requires iPhone 14 Pro or later hardware. On older devices that support iOS 16.1, live activities appear only on the lock screen. According to Apple's App Store support page , as of early 2026, over 85% of active iPhones run iOS 16 or later, making live activities accessible to the vast majority of your user base.

How long can a live activity stay on the lock screen?

A live activity can run for up to 8 hours in its active state. After the app or server ends the activity, it remains on the lock screen in a final "dismissed" state for up to 4 additional hours — giving users time to review the final status. If not explicitly ended, the system terminates it after the 8-hour window.

When should I use live activities instead of push notifications?

Use live activities when the information is ongoing and time-bounded — a delivery in progress, a match being played, a flight being tracked. Use push notifications for one-time events — a payment received, a message from a friend, a promotion expiring. The two channels complement each other: live activities handle the "during" phase, while push handles the "before" and "after."

Do live activities drain battery?

Apple designed ActivityKit with strict power budgets. Updates delivered via push tokens are batched by the system to minimize wake-ups. According to Apple's WWDC 2023 session on ActivityKit, a well-implemented live activity adds negligible battery impact — comparable to having a widget on the lock screen. The key is avoiding unnecessary update frequency.

Does Android have a live activities equivalent?

Android does not have a direct equivalent to iOS Live Activities. However, Android 15 introduced ongoing notification enhancements and richer lock screen widgets that serve a similar purpose. For cross-platform apps, consider using live activities on iOS and persistent notifications on Android — both channeled through a unified messaging platform to maintain consistent user experience.

Key Takeaways: Turning Live Activities Into a Retention Strategy

The 12 live activities examples above share a common thread: they all replace a behavior that previously required opening the app (checking ride status, checking order progress, checking flight gates) with a zero-effort lock screen glance . This isn't just a UX improvement — it's a retention mechanism. Apps that reduce friction to access real-time information earn more frequent user engagement and stronger long-term habit formation.

Three principles to apply when designing your own lock screen implementation:

• Identify your "most-checked" data point — the piece of information users open your app to see most often. That's your live activity.
• Design for 1-second comprehension. If users need to read or interpret the lock screen content, simplify it.
• Plan the full engagement lifecycle. Live activities cover the "during" phase. Pair them with push notifications for before/after events — tools like EngageLab let you orchestrate both channels from a single workflow to maintain continuous user contact.