Elevate Your iOS Live Activities: Exciting Updates for Apple Watch in 2024

Staying ahead of the curve as a marketer is crucial in today's fast-paced digital landscape. With Apple’s recent release of iOS 18 and watchOS 11, new opportunities for customer engagement through Live Activities have emerged. At OneSignal, we're equipped to help you capitalize on these updates and elevate your mobile marketing strategies for every use case.

What’s New with Live Activities?

Automatic Apple Watch Integration

Starting with iOS 18 and watchOS 11, if your iOS app is already set up for Apple Watch, Live Activities from your iOS app will automatically appear in the Smart Stack. This feature helps provide greater visibility and seamless engagement across devices. If your app already includes a watchOS target in your Xcode project, your Live Activities will work on the latest Apple Watch without additional changes needed.

Customization for Apple Watch

Developers can now customize Live Activity views for the smaller Apple Watch screen. This customization ensures that your content is optimized for both the iPhone and Apple Watch, offering a more engaging, glanceable experience.

Enhanced Update Synchronization

Live Activity updates will automatically sync between iPhone and Apple Watch, with the latest information readily available. However, iOS 18 introduces update frequency limits to preserve device performance, which means some Live Activities won’t refresh as often as they did in previous versions.

Check out our best practices for using Live Activities in your iOS App

Interactive Widgets in Smart Stack

WatchOS 11 now supports interactive widgets, allowing users to interact with your Live Activities through toggles and actions directly within the Smart Stack. This new functionality increases the chances of user engagement at critical moments.

Why These Updates Matter for Mobile Apps

• Expanded Reach: Your Live Activities can now reach users on both iPhone and Apple Watch, enhancing touchpoints and expanding opportunities for engagement.
• Tailored User Experience: By optimizing your Live Activities for Apple Watch, you can offer a tailored and glanceable experience that keeps users engaged effortlessly.
• Real-Time Information: Although iOS 18 limits the frequency of updates, essential information will still sync automatically, providing users with relevant updates whenever they raise their wrists.
• Interactive Engagement: The new interactive Smart Stack widgets offer a direct and engaging way to capture attention, further improving your ability to connect with users.

How OneSignal Can Help

At OneSignal, we're ready to help you take full advantage of these new capabilities for Live Activities. Below are some of the many advantages we offer to iOS apps:

• Seamless Integration: Our SDK simplifies the implementation of Live Activities across iOS and watchOS, with no extra code required for syncing between devices.
• Efficient Updates: Despite the new update frequency limits, OneSignal ensures that your Live Activity updates remain efficient and compliant with Apple’s updated policies.
• Expert Support: Our team keeps up with the latest Apple developments, ensuring you have the support you need to take advantage of these new features as soon as they're released.

Quickly Implement Live Activities on WatchOS 11 & iOS 18

Contact us today to discover how OneSignal can empower you to scale quickly and with confidence, so you can capitalize on every Apple update.