Your iPhone’s Clock app had already received a giant new feature when iOS 17 first came out that lets you set multiple timers, and the latest iOS 17 software update is giving us something just as exciting for the stopwatch.
With the iOS 17.4 update, currently in beta (which you can try out), Clock’s stopwatch now supports Live Activities. To see how it works, open Clock, tap “Stopwatch” in the tab bar, and hit “Start” to begin the clock. There are also other ways to start the stopwatch, such as asking Siri or choosing the option from the Home Screen quick actions after pressing or tapping and holding Clock’s icon.
Once time elapses, you can view the stopwatch’s Live Activity from your Lock Screen or Notification Center. It also is visible in the Dynamic Island on the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, and iPhone 15 and 15 Plus.
Like in the Clock app, you can pause the stopwatch and record laps. After pausing, you can stop and exit the stopwatch and Live Activity. This works from the Lock Screen, Notification Center, and expanded Dynamic Island (press or tap and hold the Dynamic Island to see the controls). If you want to see the analog interface, you can swipe to it in the Clock app, but it won’t appear as such in the Live Activity.
While Clock’s timer feature has been compatible with Live Activities since the feature’s introduction on iOS 16.1, there was no way to view the stopwatch outside of the Clock app. The inclusion of Live Activities support reduces the chance of accidentally activating the stopwatch and forgetting about it. It also lets you use other apps without having to go back to Clock every time you want to interact with the stopwatch.
Note that some beta users are reporting that Stopwatch’s Live Activity is missing from iOS 17.4 beta 2. If it’s not working for you, stay tuned for the next beta build, which should address the issue.
Just updated your iPhone? See everything that’s new with Apple’s latest iOS update:
