It’s a tradition like no other: Come early April, sports fans flock to the App Store to re-download The Masters app. It’s a highly anticipated event because — somehow, some way — a four-day golf tournament has created the best app in sports. Consider this your reminder: It's time to start downloading because the iconic tournament kicks off Thursday morning.
So, what makes it the best app in sports? In short, it's likely because Augusta National — the ultra-exclusive club that hosts the event — has enough resources to drain oceans and move mountains. When you're snapping up every available property in town, a stellar app is a reasonable splurge.
We here at Mashable covered how amazing The Masters app is back in 2022. Tech reporter Rachel Kraus wrote at the time:
"But content-wise, frankly, it just has everything that someone who wants to watch a heck of a lot of high-level golf would want. A leaderboard with up-to-the-minute scoring? Check. A livestream of the broadcast that isn't buggy? Naturally. A latest news tab, a schedule, a map of the course, highlight videos, a birds-eye-view showing the location of every player? But of course.
But the feature that really pushes this baby over the edge is its "Every Player, Every Shot, Every Hole" feature. The Masters has taken it upon itself to film and broadcast, um, every shot of every player at each hole."
A common refrain among golf diehards — I'm more of a casual, but I get it — is that broadcasts don't show enough actual golf shots. By the nature of a large tournament with lots of players, some shots have to be omitted. But there are also endless commercials, too much time spent on pre-planned video packages, or just plain screw-ups. The Masters solved that problem by deciding to pay to film every single shot and broadcast it live on its app. In fact, this year the app took it even further. You can now track every single shot, including data like distance, ball speed, and much more, on the practice range. Further, according to a press release from IBM, which helps The Masters make the app, it also added enhanced visuals for people using the Apple Vision Pro.
In other words, the best app just keeps getting better. There’s no premium version, no intrusive ads, and no need to sign into a cable subscription to watch the action. It’s completely free. Full stop.
And in an era where tech grows increasingly frustrating, the app works impossibly well. The live broadcast is smooth, the leaderboard updates immediately, and you can even create a group of golfers to track closely, helping you parse through all those meticulously filmed shots. And again, all of this is entirely free for the user. It’s the only sports app I know of that people genuinely express their love for year after year.
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The Masters app has no business being this good for a four-day event — and not for nothing, the tournament's website is excellent, too. So, consider this your yearly reminder that the seasons have turned, spring is here, and it's time for the dulcet greenery of Augusta National to take over our phones.
