ScoreMobile

Addicted to betting? ScoreMobile has up-to-the-minute lines and even built-in fantasy leagues. Multidirectional navigation makes it easy to swipe from sport to sport. Video is crisp and loads quickly, with breakdowns of matchups and trends that might affect the spread.

Wired: Easiest in terms of adding teams and switching between sports. Coverage includes cycling, MMA, even cricket.

Tired: Video is mostly talking-head analysis; few highlights. (iOS/WP7/BlackBerry/Android) Free, ScoreMobile

Rating: 8 out of 10

ESPN ScoreCenter

The self-styled worldwide leader delivers slick design, lots of news, and more sports than comparable apps, including live text coverage. Narrow the focus with windows for your favorite teams, leagues, or sports.

Wired: Quick rundowns of top news. Live coverage has fastest refresh of the four.

Tired: Windows and then tabs within windows; it can get cumbersome. No video—from ESPN?! (iOS/WP7/Android) Free, ESPN

Rating: 7 out of 10

Fox Sports Mobile

Fox’s app is clean and easy to navigate, with news and scores for almost every major sport. Box scores are highly detailed, but streaming video is slow and lo-res, with few highlights.

Wired: Clean design combines ScoreMobile’s multidirectional browsing with the ease of ESPN’s layout.

Tired: Local tab features just 25 cities, missing such hick flyovers as Boston, New York, and Chicago. (iOS/Android) Free, Fox Sports Mobile

Rating: 6 out of 10

Sportacular

This offering from Yahoo Sports has an easily customizable interface with fun widgets, like a check-in function and an addictive “shake to show the odds” function for basic betting lines. Coverage of nonmajor sports is pretty limited, though.

Wired: News streams include non-US sources like the BBC. Trending tab highlights hot games.

Tired: Live text coverage is slow. Just four European soccer leagues. No video. (iOS) Free, Sportacular

Rating: 5 out of 10