Despite today's update, it's a swing and a miss for the Apple Sports app

Last February Apple launched its Apple Sports scoreboard app in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. You can follow your favorite teams in real-time when they are in action, see selected stats, and find out whether your team has a realistic chance to make the playoffs by looking at the standings (more on that later). With the NFL exhibition season half over, the regular season kicks off September 5th with a tasty battle between the Ravens and the defending champion, the Chiefs in Kansas City.

With the new NFL season starting soon, Apple updated the Sports app so that you can add your favorite NFL squad to the list of teams you follow. The update to version 1.6 will also allow you to check scores, stats, and play-by-play action for Division I College Football. Will this be the year that the University of Miami Hurricanes regain past glory? And finally, new stats tabs on game pages will show you box scores, team stats, and more.

Being as much a sports fan as a phone nerd, I'd love to be able to recommend Apple's Sports app, but I can't. I get the feeling that it was developed by a pocket-protector wearing Apple software developer who thinks that the Stanley Cup is a piece of protective gear worn to preserve the family jewels.

There are several problems with the Apple Sports app. First, it is not easy to navigate when compared to other sports app. While you can see the scores of games in progress, there are no stories about the game before or after it is played. Ok, we understand. This is a scoreboard app and the focus is on the score of a game, not the pre-game or post-game drama. But why limit yourself to the numbers when other apps such as ESPN go into the personalities and rivalries behind a contest?

And here is where I'm wondering whether Apple has any actual sports fans working on the app. It is great that you can look at the Major League standings and see whether your team is near the top of its division. But the app gives me no option to check out the wild card standings. After all, in Major League Baseball (MLB), three teams from each league take the back door into the playoffs and the battle to be one of these six teams is usually the most exciting part of the modern-era pennant race.

Almost every sports app will show you the wild card standings for each sport. With it missing from the MLB standings in Apple Sports, it probably won't be shown for the NBA, NHL, or NFL. This omission alone should be enough to give the Apple Sports app a wide berth. Perhaps a future update will add this feature, but with the MLB 2024 season winding down now, checking the wild card standings daily is a guilty pleasure for baseball fans that Apple is not offering on its Sports app right now.

While pure sports fans might not be satisfied with Apple Sports, it might be attractive to those who wager money on games. Apple Sports can check the latest moneyline, over/under, and spread for each game. If you are a gambler or just interested in installing this app on your iPhone, you can download it from the App Store by tapping on this link. The app does have a 4.5 star rating out of five.

You can check out some alternatives such as ESPN (iOS, Android) and Yahoo Sports (iOS, Android). Perhaps one day Apple will improve Apple Sports. The tech giant just needs to put real sports fans in charge of the app.