Live Activities is a feature on iOS that provides real-time activity information for apps, displayed at the top bar or on the lock screen. This can include sports match results or the estimated time of arrival for a food delivery rider. However, in iOS 18, currently in beta testing, changes to Live Activities may impact certain types of apps.
Apple states that Live Activities in iOS 18 and watchOS 11 will now update data every 5-15 seconds instead of every 1 second. While this update may not be a major issue for most apps, developer Nico mentioned that his cycling app, which relies on 10-second interval updates, is affected, particularly when syncing data to other devices for real-time tracking.
Apple justified the decision to reduce update frequency to improve device efficiency and battery life, as each update writes data to memory. They also noted that Live Activities were not originally designed for real-time data updates. For instance, apps like ride-sharing or food delivery do not sync real-time data but rely on separate countdown mechanisms.
Live Activities is a feature introduced since iOS 16.
Source: 9to5Mac
TLDR: Live Activities in iOS 18 will have less frequent data updates, impacting certain types of apps but aiming to enhance device performance and battery life.
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