You are on the go, nowhere near a television but you want to keep up with the latest soccer scores on your smartphone. What app should you use? Besides FOX Soccer 2Go, here are 4 apps that you definitely need to take a look at.

ESPNsoccernet

Free, available on iPhone; Android app coming soon.

ESPN recently released this soccer specific app for the iPhone.  It sports many cool features, but has a few features missing. However, ESPN promises that in a few updates that some of what’s missing will be added in the future.

Pros:

  • GUI is easy to navigate and customizable
  • News posts are pretty much up-to-date
  • Dedicated video tab allowing users to see clips directly from ESPN site
  • Videos range from 2-30 minute programs from ESPN Press Pass
  • It’s Facebook friendly allowing direct connects from the app to your Facebook page
  • Many options for alerts including kick off, goals, cards, subs and more
  • Alerts are also very detailed

Cons:

  • No tab for the Mexican league or any of the Asian or African leagues
  • Live score alerts have sometimes not displayed in a timely fashion
  • Because of copyright issues, some video highlights are edited out completely
  • What exactly does that “More” tab do?

Live Score Addicts

Free, available on iPhone.

An app for those who just wants the score, Live Score Addicts is a no-frills app that is simplistic in design and functionality.

Pros:

  • Geared for those that just want to see the score
  • Customizable alerts
  • Allows you to see all score from the previous and current day
  • Tracks scores for many of the global cups being played

Cons:

  • No news articles or recaps
  • Videos are not hosted within the app and there is a high likelihood that feeds will be removed for copyright violations when viewing. (I had a lot of this when trying to see US vs Italy highlights)
  • The app appears drab and boring. Nothing to keep your attention here
  • No tab for league tables

Eurosport

Free, available on iPhone; Android app coming soon.

Pros:

  • Covers different sports from different parts of the world including the NFL, IRC, boxing and yes, soccer
  • Up-to-date news headlines and some video
  • Customizable alerts and live scores for teams as well as individual players
  • Easy and very friendly to navigate and customize
  • Up to the minute line-ups and highlights as games are played for some sports
  • Ability to read full news reports with pictures or news briefs
  • Alerts are a bit faster to pop up in comparison with the other apps mentioned here

Cons:

  • No MLB or NHL coverage
  • Videos are not placed in its own tab and also appear haphazardly. Could benefit from a dedicated video section
  • Alerts are not as customizable as ESPNsoccernet
  • You can only set alerts for soccer, rugby or tennis
  • Sometimes ads tend to get in the way of reading a good story

ScoreMobile FC

Free, available on iPhone and Android devices.

Pros:

  • “Americanized” version of Eurosport in that it covers multiple sports played in the US (NFL, MMA, college sports) as well as soccer
  • App available across multiple devices
  • Up-to-date news headlines and some video
  • Customizable alerts and live scores for teams as well as individual players
  • Up-to-the-minute line-ups and highlights as games are played for some sports
  • Separate channels for video feeds

Cons:

  • Takes a bit to navigate through various tabs to find what you want
  • Not all video highlights are up to date

So which app is the best?

Which of the four apps is the best for soccer fans? The answer really depends on your needs as well as where you are in the world as some apps may not be available. My preferred choice is the Eurosport app as it is very feature rich allowing me to keep up on multiple sports in one app. ScoreMobile FC has some of the same features (although Americanized) that I would like to see added to their regular ESPN app.

ESPNsoccernet does a very admirable job of being feature rich for it being a soccer only app, but because it’s new I suspect that with a few updates, it may in some ways be better than Eurosport. It has some of those same capabilities in the ESPN Scorecenter app (not reviewed here) but why they are 2 separate apps is beyond me. While I do like the ability to watch ESPN Press Pass, the viewing experience is diminished by not being able to see some of the game highlights that they discuss due to copyright issues. FOX Soccer could learn a lot from how ESPN handles sports apps in some respects and make theirs better. Making most parts of it free would be a start.

Live Score Addicts is, in my opinion, just for people who only need scores but as demonstrated, there are plenty of other apps that do this and better. The fact that the video feeds come from unreliable thirdparty servers doesn’t help either nor does the bland looking GUI.

**As with any app, please be aware of your phone’s data transfer rates. Phone batteries will also drain with usage so set alerts wisely.