mvayaskListening to a baseball game on the radio while keeping an eye on the score on your phone can give you a rather peculiar sensation, almost as if you were developing psychic abilities. I watched the score creep from 10-8 on the display of my iPhone 14 Pro several pitches before Dave Sims went berserk on the broadcast, exclaiming about Cal Raleigh’s home run. This experience is quite different when the score takes a turn for the worse, but that wasn’t the case on Sunday when the Mariners ultimately prevailed over the Blue Jays in extra innings. It was a classic encounter – a grand slam, a tablet being smashed in a fit of rage, all the elements that we love to see. I kept the final scorecard on my lock screen even after the game had ended, simply to savor the victory.
I’m returning to the 14 Pro after testing a series of high-performance Android phones. I used the iPhone quite a bit last fall, but certain aspects have changed since then regarding its flagship features. The Dynamic Island – that is, the freely floating notch at the top of the screen that showcases real-time information – and the always-on display can now do a bit more, especially since Apple has opened up Live Activities to third-party developers. Oh, and baseball season has resumed, which is a crucial use case for me.
Live Activities is a feature of iOS 16 and is not exclusive to the 14 Pro. It enables apps to provide live updates for time-sensitive events. On most iPhones, these updates appear on the lock screen, but on the 14 Pro and Pro Max, some of this information will also be displayed in the Dynamic Island, making it visible while you are engaged in other phone activities. Additionally, on the 14 Pro models, it remains visible on the always-on display, which, unlike a traditional always-on display, is just a dim version of your lock screen. You can simply place your phone down and still check the game score or the location of your Uber ride without having to lift a finger.
This nifty trifecta – more apps supporting Live Activities, the Dynamic Island, and the always-on display – has brought the overall appeal of the 14 Pro into sharper focus now compared to six months ago. And I like it. I enjoy being able to keep tabs on a Mariners game without having to opt into notifications or pick up my phone and open an app. I appreciate knowing whether my Uber ride is a few minutes away or right around the corner without constantly checking the app.
Ultimately, these features help address what I desire less from my phone. I want to spend less time fumbling around in apps – that moment of confusion when all you want to do is check the weather and instead have to scroll through countless screens. I want less friction as I go about my daily phone tasks.
I know I’m not alone in this. In fact, it seems there is a current consensus that phones as they exist today are inherently bad and need to be replaced with something that is less disruptive and detrimental to our mental health. This is the thinking behind initiatives like the device that Humane, uh, “demoed” at a recent TED Talk. Based on leaked videos, it appears to be some sort of alternative technology for your phone that includes a tiny projector that you can place in your shirt pocket, allowing you to use your hand as a quick information display. The premise is shaky, and the company is being secretive about what exactly they are creating, but it’s certainly not the first ill-advised attempt to present something in front of our faces that isn’t a phone.
The thing that those who advocate for “phones are bad” often forget is that phones are still absolutely essential in modern life. How exactly am I supposed to sign my kid out of daycare using a little projector clipped to my pocket? There are also many aspects of our phones that we generally like and that don’t harm our mental health. I appreciate that my phone enables me to confidently navigate public transit systems that I am unfamiliar with. I have the convenience of having a device in my pocket that I can use to video call my parents at any moment so they can see their grandchild who lives across the country. I enjoy being able to finish a book in the Libby app, browse what’s available from the library, and check out another book all while sitting on the bus.
I have a feeling that it’s the apps, rather than the phones themselves, that are to blame. App developers have a strong incentive to keep us scrolling and making purchases, but they have very little motivation to help us maintain a healthy relationship with our phones. This is how we ended up in our current notification nightmare, with phone manufacturers offering us a few life preservers in the form of focus modes, weekly screen time summaries, and scheduled notification summaries. Thank you, guys.
Apple is also providing another life raft with the new hardware features of the 14 Pro, but the lasting impression I have after experiencing the Dynamic Island is that they could do even more. There are obvious things that are currently not supported but seem well within the capabilities at hand. While the Uber app supports Live Activities, Uber Eats doesn’t (yet?) offer real-time updates on the whereabouts of your dinner. There is also no straightforward way to simply opt in to all real-time updates for every game your team plays – instead, you receive a notification that the game is about to start, and tapping on it will take you to the Apple TV app to enable live updates.
Live Activities are designed for events with defined start and end times. (Don’t even think about complaining about baseball games that seem to go on forever. We now have the pitch clock. Are you happy now, you monsters?) These are events that you have a genuine interest in following in real time, such as a game, a timer, or a rideshare ride, and once they are over, the information disappears. What I would actually like to see more of are features that surface information related to my habits and daily activities, which is a bit more challenging.
Why can’t I have bus arrival times appear as a lock screen widget whenever I’m rushing to the transit stop near my house? What if my phone could automatically open the app our daycare uses when I approach the building, just like I do without fail five times a week? I can set up an automation for this, but it’s not straightforward and relies on me telling my phone what to do, rather than it anticipating my needs. Moreover, have you ever tried creating a more complex iOS shortcut than “open X app”? You need an advanced engineering degree to understand it. I wager that most iOS users have no idea what an automation is, let alone any interest in setting one up.
The apps on my phone can tell who I’ve been spending time with lately and what brand of artisanal candles someone has just purchased, so they can serve me the appropriate ads. Surely there are other useful things my phone could be doing for me that don’t involve selling me something.
That’s what makes the new features of the 14 Pro feel rather refreshing. They place useful information where I need it and when I need it – mostly without me having to do much additional input. To reach their full potential, more third-party app makers will need to get on board, but it seems likely to happen given that the Dynamic Island is expected to be on all iPhone 15 models. If that’s the case, it will be just in time to help me keep an eye on the Mariners’ postseason games.
Correction May 5th, 3:45PM ET: A previous version of this article stated that it was not possible to set up an automation to open a particular app when arriving at a location. It is actually possible using a slightly different setup method, and this article has been updated to reflect that – hat tip to MacGyverLite. We apologize for the error.
