One of Apple’s most delightful software additions in recent years has been Live Activities, the iPhone feature that’s only gotten better over time. In macOS Tahoe and iPadOS 26, Live Activities are coming to the Mac and iPad too, but each in a very different way. Here’s how they’ll work.
Live Activities keep improving on Apple’s platforms
Live Activities launched on the iPhone when Apple introduced the first always-on display with the iPhone 14 Pro.
They offer a convenient way to get live updates at a glance from various apps, keeping track of:
- the current timer that’s running
- status of your food delivery
- the latest sports scores
- and more
Apple has steadily improved Live Activities since they launched, and even brought them to Apple Watch last year as part of the Smart Stack.
Now, Live Activities are coming to the iPad and Mac.
But Apple’s implementation on each platform differs, taking advantage of the unique strengths and needs of iPadOS 26 and macOS Tahoe.
iPadOS 26 uses Live Activities for background processes
In iPadOS 26, Live Activities are used as part of the new Background Tasks feature.
Background Tasks is the kind of capability that’s been absent from iPad for far too long.
Unlike the Mac, where apps can run intensive processes in the background with minimal system restrictions, the iPad has always been a bit more stingy with its resources.
Essentially, if an iPad app isn’t actively visible on screen, iPadOS will pretty quickly shut down any processes it may be running in the background.
But with iPadOS 26 that’s changing. Apps can finally run intensive processes—like a lengthy file export—fully in the background.
When this happens, iPadOS will use a Live Activity to show you the progress of the action.
This way, you’ll know exactly what’s going on in the background, and can track its completion.
macOS Tahoe’s Live Activities tap into iPhone Mirroring
Last year, Apple launched iPhone Mirroring in macOS Sequoia. The feature lets you control your paired iPhone directly from the Mac.
In macOS Tahoe, Apple takes this continuity feature a step further with Live Activity support.
Now, Live Activities that are running on your iPhone will automatically display in the Mac’s menu bar.
Rather than needing to glance at your iPhone regularly, you’ll see all the same key updates right in the menu bar in macOS.
If you need to interact with a Live Activity, you can simply click it on your Mac, and the iPhone Mirroring app will open and take you directly to the app running the Live Activity.
This is a completely different implementation than what the iPad offers this year, but builds on the power of one of last year’s best Mac features.
Are you excited to see Live Activities come to the iPad and Mac? Let us know in the comments.
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