Apple has just released the first public beta of iOS 18.4, and it’s packed with exciting new features and improvements. This update builds upon the foundation laid by iOS 18.3, enhancing existing functionalities and introducing innovative tools to elevate the user experience. From productivity enhancements to entertainment upgrades, iOS 18.4 offers something for everyone. Let’s dive deep into the key changes and explore what this update brings to your iPhone.
Priority Notifications: Intelligent Filtering for What Matters Most
One of the standout features in iOS 18.4 is Priority Notifications. Leveraging Apple Intelligence, this feature intelligently identifies and prioritizes your most important notifications, ensuring you don’t miss crucial updates. These notifications appear in a dedicated section at the top of your lock screen, allowing you to quickly catch up on what matters most. While this feature holds great promise, it’s worth noting that some users have reported it to be unreliable in the beta version.
Ambient Music: Soundscapes for Focus and Relaxation
iOS 18.4 introduces a new Ambient Music feature directly integrated into Control Center. This provides a convenient way to access calming and focus-inducing soundscapes, which can be particularly beneficial for those working from home and seeking to enhance their concentration and productivity. With four distinct categories—Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing—you can tailor the audio environment to your current needs. Each category offers a selection of curated playlists from Apple Music, and you have the flexibility to personalize these by choosing from alternative playlists or even selecting from your own music library.
Apple News+ Food: A Feast for the Senses
For subscribers to Apple News+, iOS 18.4 brings a dedicated Food section. This culinary corner offers a wealth of content, including tens of thousands of recipes, engaging food-related stories, insightful restaurant reviews, and much more. Content is sourced from renowned food publishers like Allrecipes, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, and Serious Eats, ensuring a high-quality and diverse culinary experience. The update also includes a convenient cook mode with step-by-step instructions and the ability to save your favorite recipes for offline access. Interestingly, there are hints that this feature might be integrated into Apple’s upcoming HomePad smart home device, suggesting a potential expansion of this functionality beyond the iPhone and iPad.
Enhanced Creativity with Image Playground
The creative capabilities of your iPhone get a boost with the addition of a Sketch style in Image Playground. This new style, which makes images look like they were sketched on paper, joins the existing Animation and Illustration styles, providing more artistic options for transforming your images. To switch between styles, simply tap the “+” button within the Image Playground app.
Expanding the Reach of Apple Intelligence
iOS 18.4 expands the availability of Apple Intelligence, bringing its powerful features to more users worldwide. This expansion is a significant step in making Apple’s advanced features more accessible and inclusive. This update adds support for several new languages, including:
| Language | Region/Localization |
|---|---|
| French | |
| German | |
| Italian | |
| Portuguese | Brazil |
| Spanish | |
| Japanese | |
| Korean | |
| Chinese | Simplified |
| English | India |
| English | Singapore |
Additionally, Apple Intelligence is now accessible in the European Union for the first time.
Redesigned Mail App Arrives on iPad and Mac
With the release of iPadOS 18.4 and macOS 15.4 beta, the redesigned Mail app, previously exclusive to the iPhone, is making its way to the iPad and Mac. This brings enhanced features like Mail Categorization to these platforms, allowing users to organize their inboxes more efficiently. Incoming emails are automatically categorized into sections like Primary, product orders, newsletters, deals, and social notifications, streamlining email management. However, it’s worth noting that some users have reported bugs with this feature in the iOS 18.4 beta.
Genmoji Gets a Clearer Label
Apple has made a small but significant change to the Genmoji feature. The Genmoji icon in the Emoji keyboard now clearly displays the word “Genmoji” alongside the multicolor smiley face. This makes it easier for users to identify and access this feature, which was previously somewhat hidden.
New Widgets for Podcasts
The Podcasts app receives two new widgets in iOS 18.4: one for your Library and one for Shows. The Library widget offers flexibility in displaying your saved episodes, downloaded episodes, or latest episodes. The Shows widget allows you to highlight all episodes from a specific show, providing quick access to your favorite podcasts right from your Home Screen.
More Default App Choices
Apple continues to expand the options for default apps. In iOS 18.4, you can now set a different Translate app and a different camera app as your default. For users in the EU, there’s added support for choosing a default navigation app.
CarPlay Enhancements
CarPlay users with larger screens will appreciate the addition of a third row of app icons on the Home screen. This provides more space for organizing and accessing your favorite CarPlay apps.
Simplified Mac Setup
Setting up a new Mac is now easier with the introduction of a proximity setup feature in macOS 15.4 beta. This feature works similarly to the existing proximity setup for iPhone and iPad, allowing you to quickly and easily configure your new Mac using your iPhone.
New Siri Voices
iOS 18.4 introduces two new Australian voices for Siri, providing users with more options for personalizing their Siri experience.
Security Indicator Enhancements
The Secure Indicator Light (SIL), which notifies users when critical components like the camera or microphone are in use, receives a visual update in iOS 18.4. The SIL now has a new animation and appears brighter, more closely resembling an actual LED light.
Apple Pencil Refinements
A new option has been added to Apple Pencil settings for double-tap functionality. You can now choose to “double tap with only hover,” providing more flexibility in how you interact with your iPad using the Apple Pencil.
Data Protection Changes in the UK
Due to a new law in the UK, the advanced data protection feature is being disabled in iOS 18.4 for users in the UK.
Vision Pro Integration
iOS 18.4 introduces a dedicated Vision Pro app, providing users with a convenient way to manage their Vision Pro headset. This app allows you to download apps and content, access helpful tips and information, and even set up Guest Mode, all from your iPhone.
Other Notable Changes
iOS 18.4 includes a variety of other enhancements and refinements:
- Age Range Selection During Setup: When setting up a new device with iOS 18.4, you’ll be prompted to select an age range (Child, Teen, or Adult). This information is used to help set up parental controls.
- New Shortcuts Actions: Two new Shortcuts actions have been added for the Messages app: Open Conversation and Send Message. For example, you could create a shortcut to automatically open a conversation with a specific contact when you arrive at a certain location.
- Photos App Filters: The Photos app now allows you to filter your library by images shared with you or by those not included in an album, making it easier to organize and find specific photos. You can also now show or hide the Recently Viewed and Recently Shared albums from the Utilities list in Photos Settings.
- Type to Siri: A new “Type to Siri” option allows you to interact with Siri using the keyboard instead of voice input. When using this feature, the keyboard collapses down when Siri answers, providing a cleaner interface.
- Back Tap Notification: If you have the Back Tap Accessibility option enabled, you’ll now receive a notification when a double tap or triple tap action is performed.
- Apple Maps Preferred Language: You can now set a Preferred Language in Apple Maps settings to receive directions in your preferred language.
- Passwords App Countdown: Verification codes for two-factor authentication in the Passwords app now have a countdown circle, indicating when a new code will be generated.
- Control Center Updates: The Cellular and Wi-Fi toggles in Control Center now display signal strength in bars, providing a more visual representation of your connection strength. The Brightness and Sound toggles have been visually refined and change color when the sliders are lowered, offering a more intuitive user experience. The Focus option in Control Center now has small arrows indicating additional options within the Focus mode.
- HomeKit Support for Robot Vacuums: iOS 18.4 introduces support for Matter-enabled robot vacuums in HomeKit, allowing you to control your robot vacuum through the Home app. This integration signifies Apple’s growing focus on smart home technology and its potential to create a more connected and automated home environment.
- Mobile Device Management Updates: For enterprise and education users, Mobile Device Management (MDM) can now disable Apple Intelligence reports, Mail smart replies, Safari summarize content, and the Idle Reboot feature.
- Smoother Notification Animation: The animation for notifications has been refined in iOS 18.4, resulting in a smoother and more fluid experience.
Comparison with iOS 18.3
iOS 18.4 brings several improvements compared to its predecessor, iOS 18.3. Users have reported better performance and smoother animations in general use. Battery life also seems to have improved for some users. While iOS 18.3.1 had some issues with call failures, particularly in India, iOS 18.4 beta 1 includes a new modem update that may address these problems. However, it’s worth noting that iOS 18.4 seems to be using slightly more storage space compared to iOS 18.3.1, likely due to the upgrades to Apple Intelligence.
Known Issues
While iOS 18.4 brings a host of improvements, it’s important to be aware of some reported issues in the beta version:
- Mail Categorization Bugs: Some users have reported issues with the new Mail Categorization feature.
- Ambient Music Malfunction: The Ambient Music feature has been reported to not work as expected for some users.
- Priority Notifications Unreliability: The Priority Notifications feature may not always reliably identify and prioritize important notifications.
- Wi-Fi Calling Issues: Apple’s developer notes indicate that Wi-Fi Calling might not work for US Cellular customers in iOS 18.4. Users experiencing this issue are advised to revert to iOS 18.3.
Conclusion
iOS 18.4 is a significant update that introduces a range of new features and enhancements to improve your iPhone experience. The update focuses on enhancing productivity with features like Priority Notifications and Ambient Music, boosting creativity with the new Sketch style in Image Playground, and expanding accessibility by bringing Apple Intelligence to more users worldwide. The addition of new Siri voices, Apple Pencil refinements, and Vision Pro integration further enrich the user experience. While some minor bugs have been reported in the beta version, the overall update appears to be a solid step forward in Apple’s ongoing effort to refine and enhance its mobile operating system. iOS 18.4 is expected to be officially released sometime in the coming months, and we can anticipate further improvements and refinements to address any remaining issues.
