Apple Sports activities launches in Kenya as a part of 170-country international push, however Apple One and TV+ nonetheless lacking

Apple has expanded its free iPhone scores app, Apple Sports activities, into greater than 90 new international locations and areas, pushing the whole footprint previous 170 markets globally. The rollout is timed for the FIFA World Cup 2026, which kicks off on June 11 throughout america, Canada and Mexico.

Kenya is a part of the brand new wave. Apple particularly named the growth as protecting markets throughout the Asia-Pacific, the Center East and Africa, together with South Africa, India, Singapore, Japan and Australia. The app is now out there to obtain from the Kenyan App Retailer on iPhones working iOS 17.2 or later.

What Apple Sports activities does

The app is precisely what its identify says. It pulls real-time scores, statistics, standings and beginning lineups from main leagues right into a single, quick interface. Apple’s companies chief Eddy Cue, when launching the app in February 2024, stated the objective was merely “extremely quick entry to scores and stats.” Followers have since complained the app is so quick it spoils performs earlier than your TV stream catches up.

For the World Cup, Apple has inbuilt a scrollable event bracket, visible staff formations on every match card, and one-tap entry to the Apple TV app to leap straight into dwell matches on supported streaming companies. Comply with a staff and also you get Dwell Actions in your iPhone Lock Display screen and Apple Watch, plus widgets that work on iPhone, iPad and Mac. The app helps Premier League, La Liga, NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, F1, PGA Tour and different main competitions year-round, not simply the World Cup.

The catch on Dwell Actions: you want iOS 18 and watchOS 11 or later to get the Lock Display screen and Apple Watch updates.

A free win that highlights what Kenya remains to be lacking

Kenya will not be Apple’s greatest African market by quantity — Statcounter put iPhone utilization share in Kenya at 4.97% as of June 2025, nicely behind Samsung’s 30.32%. But it surely’s a high-spending phase that will get little or no again from Apple’s companies aspect.

Per Apple’s personal companies availability web page, Kenya nonetheless doesn’t have entry to:

Apple One, the bundle that mixes Music, TV+, Arcade, iCloud+ and Health+ for a reduced month-to-month feeApple TV+ subscription — Apple Originals like Severance, Gradual Horses and Ted Lasso are off-limits, regardless that Uganda, Ghana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe all have full Apple TV+ accessApple Health+, the guided exercise service that pairs with Apple WatchApple Information+, which Apple restricts to the US, Canada, UK and Australia onlyApple Books purchases — solely public area titles can be found, no industrial books or audiobooks

We already made the Apple TV+ argument intimately after the iPhone 17 launch final September. And on messaging, we defined why iPhones in Kenya nonetheless can’t use RCS — Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom haven’t deployed the provider bundles Apple requires.

What Kenya does get: the App Retailer, Apple Arcade, Apple Music, iTunes music purchases, Shazam, Podcasts, ringtone purchases, and now Apple Sports activities.

What to observe

Apple Sports activities touchdown in Kenya is a small, actual win. It is going to be the cleanest, quickest method to comply with group-stage matches on an iPhone in June. However increasing a free, ad-free score-tracker to 170 markets will not be the identical as opening Apple’s paid companies to these markets.

Watch the WWDC keynote on June 8 for any sign that Apple One, Apple TV+ or Health+ are coming to extra African markets. For now, the hole between the iPhones Kenyans purchase and the Apple companies Kenyans can really use stays.