The iconic tennis tournament in the scenic Wimbledon district of London, England, is upon us, and those in the thick of the action or following from afar mostly have one thing in common – a smartphone. Your digital companion can keep you up to date on scores, highlights, and coverage through your browser, but why stop there? Here are the top ten apps in the Play Store right now that are made to help keep you informed and engaged all the way until the tournament’s grand finale on July 15.
The Championships, Wimbledon 2018
This is the official Wimbledon app, and is your one-stop shop for all things Wimbledon, at least as far as the tournament goes. You can check out scores, see what matches are going on, check out maps, and even plan out your visit to Wimbledon. The free app boasts millions of downloads, and that’s for one reason; you just can’t beat this app for a simple and easy-to-use Wimbledon hub on your mobile.
Virtua Tennis Challenge
If your tennis spirit needs a little bit of a boost to keep burning bright throughout the tournament, this is the game for you. It’s SEGA’s famous Virtua Tennis series, pared down to a mobile-focused and bite-sized experience. You can take in a match between real matches, pop in for a friendly challenge over Wi-Fi, or sink your teeth into the campaign mode. Whatever way you choose to enjoy it, you’re going to get one of the most detailed tennis experiences on mobile platforms today, with a concentration mechanic that rewards skilled play and knowing your character’s and your own limits and strengths. The game is free, and the super-detailed graphics can be watered down to run on lower-end devices.
MapCo Guide to Wimbledon
While the official Wimbledon app does have maps and trip planning, no app can show you around Wimbledon and the surrounding areas and attractions quite like this one. The totally free and ad-free app can show you a bunch of different locations in Wimbledon, along with Google Maps locations and listings for them, and even pictures and videos. The app also packs in information on transport options, making the planning phase of your Wimbledon trip a breeze, or even rescuing a day at Wimbledon that’s gone awry for one reason or another.
Wimbledon Highlights
This is one of those incredibly simple and somewhat underrated apps that does exactly what it says on the tin. There are ads in between, but you’ll be able to view some of the biggest highlights and best games from Wimbledon tournaments of years past to get your blood pumping for this year’s main event and give you a glimpse into the event’s past. This one may not sport a lot of downloads, but this hidden gem is, without a doubt, the quickest and simplest way to go from gazing deep into your phone’s lock screen to watching blazing Wimbledon action. Sure, you can search on YouTube and other video sites, or Google around to find specific clips or players, but when it comes to a quick and easy fix of Wimbledon action, this app is where it’s at.
CBS Sports App – Scores, News, Stats & Watch Live
The official CBS Sports app features coverage and content from Wimbledon, which is great news for fans of other sports or just sports in general, who may not want to download an app that they’ll end up getting far less use out of once July 15 rolls around. This app boasts news, highlights, hot takes and professional coverage of worldwide sports of all sorts, and like any other major event, the coverage of Wimbledon is comprehensive and well-done.
Wimbledon 2018 Radio App Tennis Free Online
Those who may be too busy to check out video highlights or read coverage can search for sports stations covering Wimbledon manually in another app like iHeartRadio, or they can just use this app. It has a selection of Wimbledon-centric international radio stations that are pulled over a data connection, which means your phone does not have to have any special equipment to get you the Wimbledon information you want. The app’s interface is quick and clean, which means that busy users can throw on headphones, fire up the app and go take care of whatever life may have in store for them, all while getting scores, coverage and play-by-plays from the station of their choice.
My Wimbledon
This app differs from the rest of the list in that it caters to users who may be interested in Wimbledon beyond the raucous rallies going on across the grass courts. This app is a curated digital showroom of the lovely Wimbledon area, and can serve as a tour guide to the unfamiliar, or a discovery and planning haven for those who have some experience with the area. You’ll find shops, attractions, community developments, transport and more. Furthermore, you can even use the app to score exclusive offers and discounts throughout Wimbledon that you won’t find anywhere else.
Tennis Temple – Live Scores
This is another app that does exactly what it says it does, and not much else. You’ll find news, rankings, current matches and more, all updated down to the minute. The kicker with this app is that the fun doesn’t have to end on July 15; information is updated as long as there’s professional tennis being played, making the app handy for keeping up with scores year-round and even finding matches to watch during the times of year that tennis may be overshadowed by other popular sports in the mass media.
Neon Tennis Live Wallpaper
Yet another app that’s very aptly named, this simple app gives you a live wallpaper for your home screen. The wallpaper in question shows a retro-style neon background with an LCD-style tennis match going on in the foreground. The vibrant colors and blood-pumping action are sure to get you in just the right mood to check out what’s going on in Wimbledon. If you’re a tennis fan, of course, it’s also a pretty cool live wallpaper year-round, bearing a great retro aesthetic and a neon-on-black color scheme that can compliment almost any system UI theme and launcher icon set.
Tennis in the Face
The final app in this list breaks the streak of simply-named and simply functioning apps to deliver an uproarious game that will give you a good mental break from all the tension of the tournament. This physics-based puzzler is more complex than its name, and fans of the Stupid Zombies series may have an idea just how complex; it’s fairly similar in how it works at a core level, but that’s where the similarities end. Our tennis racket wielding hero is charged with ridding the city of a corrupt soda pop company and the authorities, scientists and other parties protecting and aiding them, and he’s going to do it by letting fly with his trusty tennis ball, then letting gravity and inertia take care of the rest. If you need something to chew on between matches that won’t melt your brain but want to keep things at least marginally related to tennis, this is the game for you.