For anyone who knows I am a coach, it is no surprise that I am a huge sports fan. There are several good sports apps for the iPhone, each with its own positive and negative aspects. I have finally settled on Sports Tap as my one stop score reference.
Sports Tap provides stats and scores for the following sports: MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA, NASCAR, Formula One, Indy Car, AFL, CFL, PGA, LPGA, ATP, WTA, MLS, and major Futbol leagues worldwide.
One of the first reasons I tried Sports Tap was due to including racing results. Sportacular, which is also another good sports app, does not include racing results. With the release of the 3.0 OS, the app has added push notification which has proven to utilize the service well.
Choose the sports of interest and they are all available on the home page. When an update is available, a badge is present as a reminder. Each sport allows for favorite teams to be tagged which will bring alerts for news and scores from those teams. Most of this review will use MLB as an example since baseball is the only active sport that I have favorites added.
Each sport includes some news, but is not what I would call a news source. The news is limited and usually a few days behind. The strength of Sports Tap comes from its scores and stats features. I am almost always on the go with my own sports and the app keeps me up to date on whatever I am missing.
The scoring is quite detailed. As seen on the baseball screen shots, one quick look at the score shows who is pitching, batting, on base, score, outs etc… Each sport includes important information to allow the user to know what is happening at any given moment in a game. There are also descriptions of each play and every hit and out. Any favorite teams saved will be the first scores shown when looking at a league. This allows for one quick look if just glancing at a score or result to see all of your favorite teams.
The best feature of Sports Tap is push notification. Currently, the AFL and MLB games are available via push. I am assuming NFL and NCAA will be available soon. A message is pushed to your device once a game begins, each time the score changes, and when the score is final. I have spent all summer being able to follow the roller coaster that is the Houston Astros’ season without turning on a TV. Since I will be working on my own football stuff every Saturday, I look forward to following my favorite colleges via push notification. A notification comes through and a quick glance shows the score. Click on the score and the app opens and allows the user to see how the team scored. I think push sets this app apart from all of the other sports apps.
Sports Tap provides a fantastic reference for live sports scores which can be personalized and is unique to each sport. The number of sports and leagues along with push notification makes this a must have app for any sports fan on the go. Get scores and game summaries on the go, anytime. If the app allows for me to get Cowboys, Colts, Spurs and my favorite college teams’ scores via push, Sports Tap might become my only sports app! The best part is the app is FREE here in the app store! The developers have a web based version which works almost exactly like the iPhone/Touch version. You can check it out here.
What I like: The number of leagues and sports available and push notifications.
What I don’t: Not sure if all sports will include push notifications.
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