A hand filling in a paper lottery ticket with a red pen. Photo: Santeri Viinamäki, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The lottery was one of the last forms of gambling to go digital. For decades it meant a paper slip, a pen and a trip to a shop. Now the iPhone plays a part in almost every step, from checking numbers to, in some places, buying the ticket itself.
Official lottery apps
Most US state lotteries and many national lotteries elsewhere have official apps. Common features include:
- results and jackpot amounts, often with push notifications;
- a scanner that checks a paper ticket with the camera;
- second-chance draws for non-winning scratch cards;
- maps of nearby retailers;
- in some states and countries, buying draw tickets or instant games directly in the app, with identity and location checks.
Courier services
In parts of the United States, courier apps buy paper tickets at licensed retailers on a customer's behalf and send a scan of the ticket. The model grew quickly, and in 2024 DraftKings agreed to buy the courier Jackpocket. It is not legal everywhere, though: some states have restricted or banned couriers, including Texas in 2025 after a controversy over a large jackpot win. If you use one, check that it is approved in your state.
Lottery scams that target phones
- "You have won" texts for a lottery you never entered. Real lotteries do not contact winners this way.
- Fees to release a prize. No genuine lottery asks you to pay to collect a win.
- Fake apps and websites that copy lottery branding. Install only the official app, from the App Store, published by the lottery itself.
On the iPhone, turn on Settings > Apps > Messages > Unknown Senders filtering, and use "Report Junk" on suspicious messages. Never tap a link in an unexpected prize message.
Keep winning tickets safe
Take a photo of a valuable paper ticket, sign it where the lottery allows and store it somewhere safe. A screenshot or scan is not a substitute for the original. For digital tickets, protect the account like any other money account; our article on the modern iPhone security model explains the built-in protections worth switching on.