Live Activities not working on iPhone in iOS 17? 11 Ways to fix it!

Introduced with iOS 16, Live Activities on iPhone lets you access real-time information from your favorite apps on the lock screen. You can use it to keep track of live sports scores, flight schedules, cab rides, and more without opening any apps. Moreover, if you have an iPhone 14 Pro or later, these useful notifications are integrated into the Dynamic Island up top.

Although it’s a convenient, time-saving feature, several users complained of Live Activities not working properly for all apps on their iPhones. If you’re facing a similar issue, you’ve come to the right place. Below I’ve created a list of potential solutions that can help you restore Live Activities on your iPhone. Let’s go!

1. Update your iPhone
2. Check if the app supports Live Activities
3. Ensure that Live Activities are enabled on your iPhone
4. Enable Live Activities for the app facing issues
5. Check for network-related issues
6. Check if notifications for the app are enabled
7. Ensure that Location Services for the app are enabled
8. Turn on Background App Refresh for the app
9. Disable Low Power and Low Data Mode
10. Force restart your iPhone
11. Reset All Settings

1. Update your iPhone

Live Activities for third-party apps was rolled out with iOS 16.1. Hence, if you are still using an iPhone running iOS 16, you must update to the latest iOS 17.

1. Go to Settings → General → Software Update.
2. Tap Download and Install if any update is available.
   
   

2. Check if the app supports Live Activities

Even though many iOS app developers have been rolling out support for Live Activities over the past year, only a handful of major apps support this feature. Hence, you must verify whether the app you’re using is compatible with Live Activities by visiting the app’s App Store page or official website.

If the app you’re using supports Live Activities, but it’s not working for you, move on to the next solution.

3. Ensure that Live Activities are enabled on your iPhone

Even though Live activities are enabled by default on all iPhones ruining iOS 16 or later, it’s worth double-checking if you’ve mistakenly disabled them on your iPhone.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Scroll down and choose Face ID & Passcode.
3. Enter your iPhone’s passcode.
4. Scroll down and toggle on Live Activities.
   
   

4. Enable Live Activities for the app facing issues

If the first three solutions didn’t help reinstate Live Activities on your iPhone, you must ensure that Live Activities for the app in question are enabled from Settings.

1. Go to the Settings. Scroll down until you reach a list of apps.
2. Select the app that’s facing issues.
   I faced issues with a food delivery app called Swiggy. So, I selected that.
3. Choose Live Activities.
4. Toggle on Allow Live Activities.
   
   

Besides, you also need to tap Always Allow when the notification for an app’s Live Activities appears on your screen for the first time.

5. Check for network-related issues

Everything you do on your iPhone requires a stable internet connection, and Live Activities aren’t any different.

To ensure that everything works smoothly, you must connect your iPhone to a stable Wi-Fi or cellular data connection, free from any network-related issues.

6. Check if notifications for the app are enabled

For Live Activities to work, notifications need to appear on your iPhone’s lock screen. Hence, you must double-check if notifications for the app in question are enabled and if it can send you the lock screen alerts, as shown in these steps.

1. Go to Settings → Notifications.
2. Select the app that’s facing issues.
3. Toggle on Allow Notifications and Time Sensitive Notifications.
4. Then select the option for Lock Screen alerts.
   
   

7. Ensure that Location Services for the app are enabled

Some apps that support Live Activities may require access to your iPhone’s Location Services to work as expected. Here’s how you can ensure that an app has access to Location Services on your iPhone.

1. Go to Settings → Scroll down and select Privacy & Security.
2. Tap Location Services.
   
   
3. Select the app which is facing issues.
4. Ensure that While Using the App option is selected. Then toggle on Precise Location.
   
   

8. Turn on Background App Refresh for the app

For Live Activities to work on your iPhone, it’s necessary that you let the app in question run in the background. You must ensure that you don’t close the app from the App Switcher and that it has Background App Refresh turned on.

1. Go to Settings → General.
2. Select Background App Refresh.
3. Toggle on the app in question.
   
   

9. Disable Low Power and Low Data Mode

While using Low Power and Low Data Mode can help reduce your iPhone’s battery and cellular data consumption, enabling them will stop several services that are necessary for Live Activities to function. Hence, you must disable both to see if that fixes the issue for you.

1. Go to Settings → Battery.
2. Toggle off Low Power Mode.
   
   
   
3. Then, go back to Settings → Cellular → Cellular Data Options.
4. Tap Data Mode.
5. Deselect Low Data Mode.
   Select any of the other options.
   
   

10. Force restart your iPhone

If the previous solutions didn’t work, performing a hard reboot on iPhone might help you resolve software glitches or conflicts that could be affecting the proper functioning of Live Activities.

11. Reset All Settings

If none of the solutions helped resolve the issue, your best bet would be to reset all settings on your iPhone. This action will restore all settings to their default values while leaving your data untouched. Here’s how to do this:

1. Go to Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone.
   
   
2. Tap Reset → Reset All Settings.
   
   
3. Enter your passcode.
4. Tap Reset All Settings again to complete the process.

Live Activities on iPhone fixed!

By following the solutions mentioned in this guide, you should be able to quickly troubleshoot and fix issues related to Live Activities on your iPhone. However, if you have any queries or know an even better solution that can help users fix the issue, feel free to drop it as a comment.

Read more:

• How to use Live Text on iPhone and iPad
• 25+ Best iPhone apps you must have
• Apple Maps Voice Navigation not working on iPhone? 10 Ways to fix it!

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