Live Activities

16 min

Overview

Live Activities enable real-time updates on a user’s device (e.g., order tracking, delivery status). In this implementation, Live Activities are triggered via Adobe Journey Optimizer campaigns, and each step in a configured flow updates the activity dynamically on the device.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure the following:

Create a project using quick-setup: https://dsn.adobe.com/quick-setup. Use advance preset for the same, either Luma - Advanced or Halliby - Advanced.

Example: Use Luma - Advanced Preset.

This will create a web, mobile, cx, and event trigger project.

Install the app: Live Demos Mobile(iOS version)

Open the app and:

Go to the Settings tab (bottom navigation)

Select the tab “Custom project”

Use the mobile project created above.

Create an account :

Click on the login icon

Create API triggered transactional campaign based on email namespace. https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/journey-optimizer/using/campaigns/api-triggered-campaigns/api-triggered-campaign-properties

Step 1: Configure Live Activities

Edit the Event Trigger project created above and open the Live Activities module:

Configure the following fields:

Module: Live Activities

Campaign: Select the campaign to trigger. This is the api triggered campaign and provide the campaign ID. Use a campaign based on the email namespace.

Vertical: Retail

Restaurant Name: Luma

Steps

Order Status (e.g., Order Placed, On the way to store)

Extra message: This will be shown on live activity

Current State

These values are passed in the payload and are used to update the Live Activity UI in real time.

Note: For Luma (public project), this is already configured; the steps are provided for a custom implementation.

Step 2: Configure Steps

Click on Open Editor under Steps

Define multiple steps of the Live Activity

Each step represents a status update (e.g., Order Placed → On the way to store → Order arrived at store)

These steps will:

Appear in the flow UI

Trigger events when executed

Step 3: Run the Experience

Navigate to the Journey Trigger project created above.

and select Email from the dropdown.

Provide a valid Email. It will load the profile and the live activities module.

Step 4: Trigger Live Activity Events

Execute the steps sequentially in the flow, where each step triggers an event that invokes the campaign, which in turn sends a Live Activity update to the device using fields such as Order Status, Extra Message and Current State.

Step 5: Real-Time Device Updates

Once the Live Activity is triggered on the device, each subsequent step continues to send updates, which are reflected in real time on the device by updating the Order Status, Extra message, and Current State.

Alternative: Trigger Using Postman

If you do not want to use the Journey Trigger, you can trigger Live Activity updates using the attached Postman collection.

live-activitiespostman-collection.json

Steps:

Import the provided Postman collection

Open the Live Activity request

Update the required fields (explained below)

Send the request to trigger the campaign

🔧 Required Fields Explanation

campaignId → AJO Campaign ID used to trigger the Live Activity

timestamp → Dynamic epoch timestamp (in seconds) representing when the event is triggered

userId (Email) → Email of the target device/user where the Live Activity should appear

event → Defines the Live Activity lifecycle:

start → Starts the activity

update → Updates the activity

end → Ends the activity

liveActivityID → Unique identifier for a Live Activity instance → Must remain the same across updates

Live Activity Update Fields

orderStatus → Current order status

statusDetail → Extra message

currentStage → Current stage/progress of the activity(0,1,2,3,4)

Vertical - Generic

The generic template provides a flexible foundation for Live Activities with varied UI designs, while supporting rich images to make the experience more engaging and visually appealing. If no image is available, it gracefully falls back to a built-in status card.

Step 1: Configure Live Activities

Edit the Event Trigger project created above and open the Live Activities module:

Configure the following fields:

Module: Live Activities

Campaign: Select the campaign to trigger. This is the api triggered campaign and provide the campaign ID. Use a campaign based on the email namespace.

Vertical: Generic

Steps

Order Status (e.g., Order Placed, On the way to store)

Extra message: This will be shown on live activity

Current State

Image

These are optional parameters which will be used when image is not fetched from the server. If image is provided and is available, then full image would be displayed.

In case, still wants to display these on image use switch -"Show all details".

These values are passed in the payload and are used to update the Live Activity UI in real time.

Step 2: Configure Steps

Click on Open Editor under Steps

Define multiple steps of the Live Activity

Each step represents a status update (e.g., Order Placed → On the way to store → Order arrived at store)

These steps will:

Appear in the flow UI

Trigger events when executed

Step 3: Run the Experience

Navigate to the Journey Trigger project created above.

and select Email from the dropdown.

Provide a valid Email. It will load the profile and the live activities module.

Step 4: Trigger Live Activity Events

Execute the steps sequentially in the flow, where each step triggers an event that invokes the campaign, which in turn sends a Live Activity update to the device using fields.

If image cannot be fetched, it falls back to native card.

Step 5: Real-Time Device Updates

Once the Live Activity is triggered on the device, each subsequent step continues to send updates, which are reflected in real time on the device by updating the image.

Postman Collection -

Live-Activities.postman_collection.json