Apple launched iOS 26.4 on Tuesday, March 24, a couple of week after the tech large launched iOS 26.3.1 (a), the corporate’s first Background Safety Enchancment replace. The newest replace brings a slew of options to your iPhone, together with new emoji and video podcasts.
You may obtain iOS 26.4 now by going to Settings and tapping Normal. Subsequent, choose Software program Replace, faucet Replace Now and comply with the prompts in your display.
Listed here are a few of the new options iOS 26.4 brings to your iPhone.
New emoji
All the brand new emoji iOS 26.4 brings to your iPhone.
With iOS 26.4, your iPhone will get eight new emoji. These emoji embrace:
The Unicode Consortium is answerable for creating emoji, and it authorized these new emoji in September as a part of Unicode 17.0. However that is the primary time the emoji are exhibiting up on iPhones.
Video podcasts come to Apple Podcasts
The iOS 26.4 replace additionally brings video to your Podcasts app. To view these video podcasts, open the Podcasts app and begin listening to an episode with the video participant icon within the high proper nook of the title card. When you’re listening, open the media participant and faucet the Flip Video On button close to the podcast’s progress bar. The podcast’s paintings will probably be changed with the video. To show the video off once more, faucet Flip Video Off and the podcast’s paintings will return.
Video podcasts are a enjoyable addition to the Podcasts app.
Cut back some Liquid Glass results throughout your gadget
Apple’s iOS 26.4 replace provides one other setting to reduce Liquid Glass results throughout your gadget: Cut back Brilliant Results. Here is the place to search out this setting.
1. Faucet Settings.
2. Faucet Accessibility.
3. Faucet Show & Textual content Measurement.
4. Scroll down the menu to search out Cut back Brilliant Results.
Cut back Brilliant Results can eradicate some Liquid Glass results.
Apple says the setting will decrease highlighting and flashing when interacting with on-screen parts, reminiscent of buttons or the keyboard. So in case you discover sure flash parts annoying, now you can disable them.
Playlist Playground in Apple Music
The iOS 26.4 replace additionally introduces a brand new playlist generator for Apple Music subscribers referred to as Playlist Playground. Apple says the characteristic can create a playlist based mostly in your description. When you enter your description, it’s going to create a playlist with a title, tracklist and common description.
To entry Playlist Playground, first you need to be an Apple Music subscriber. Then, open Apple Music and go to your Library. In your Library, you may see a brand new icon on the high of your display with a plus and some strains subsequent to it. Faucet this, and you will be prompted to explain your playlist.
Playlist Playground can generate a playlist for you very quickly.
Apple notes this characteristic continues to be in beta, so it would create surprising outcomes. So that you may ask for a very good fitness center combine and find yourself with some Whitney Houston — however who’s to say Whitney is not good fitness center music?
Discover close by live shows with the aptly named Concert events characteristic
iOS 26.4 brings a brand new Concert events characteristic to your Apple Music app.
“Concert events helps you uncover close by reveals from artists in your library and recommends new artists based mostly on what you hearken to,” Apple writes within the replace’s description. That means, you possibly can simply discover close by reveals.
To seek out Concert events, faucet the magnifying glass icon on the backside of your Apple Music display, then faucet Concert events. The characteristic might ask to your location the primary time you utilize it. You then’ll see in style reveals close by, together with their dates, instances and places. Tapping into any of those reveals provides you extra info on the present, in addition to a hyperlink to purchase tickets.
The Concert events tab in Apple Music makes it simple to see upcoming reveals in your space.
Shazam works offline, type of
With iOS 26.4, your Management Middle’s Shazam app can work in additional methods. Now, in case you aren’t related to the web and use the Management Middle app to determine a music, the app will ultimately let you know the music’s id when you’re again on-line.
Ambient Music house display widgets
Apple launched two new Ambient Music widgets to your house display with iOS 26.4. These widgets allow you to simply entry the 4 Ambient Music playlists: Sleep, Chill, Productiveness, Wellbeing. You may shortly activate a calming playlist to unwind after a protracted day, or one that will help you concentrate on the duty at hand.
The Ambient Music widget makes it simple to play music for simply the best setting.
Apple launched these playlists to your iPhone alongside iOS 18.4 in 2024. Nonetheless, you could possibly solely entry these playlists out of your Management Middle on the time.
Let different adults in your Household pay for themselves
In iOS 26.4, different adults in your Household sharing group can now use their very own cost as an alternative of relying on the group organizer’s cost technique. Which means in case you’re an grownup and have a household sharing group with your individual mother and father, siblings or different members of the family, now you can buy a brand new sport, film or one thing else with your individual info as an alternative of utilizing another person’s info after which paying them again for utilizing their cash.
This generally is a useful characteristic that permits you to keep away from the trouble of paying another person again for utilizing their cost info. And in case you’re the individual whose card is all the time used, it may be a pleasant means to make sure others pay for their very own stuff and do not freeload off you.
Extra caption choices when viewing movies
With iOS 26.4, you possibly can simply change the caption fashion whereas watching content material in sure apps, reminiscent of Apple TV.
To see these choices, begin taking part in a video, then faucet the speech bubble icon within the bottom-right nook of your display to open the subtitle menu. Faucet Model, and you will see the subtitle choices Basic (the default setting), Giant Textual content, Define Textual content and Clear Background. So in case you and some others are watching one thing in your iPhone and need to be sure everybody can see the captions, you may select Giant Textual content.
You may modify the subtitles in some apps because of iOS 26.4.
Extra management over wallpaper Collections
The iOS 26.4 replace additionally provides you extra management over which wallpaper Collections are in your iPhone. Now, in case you go to Settings > Wallpaper > Add New Wallpaper, you possibly can faucet Get beneath Collections like Climate and Astronomy.
If you wish to delete a Assortment out of your gadget, faucet the verify mark to the best of the downloaded Assortment, and the choice to Take away from Gallery seems. Faucet this to delete the Assortment out of your iPhone, saving you some treasured area.
You may take away wallpaper Collections out of your iPhone if you wish to save somewhat more room.
Listed here are the discharge notes for iOS 26.4.
Apple Music
- Playlist Playground (beta) generates a playlist out of your description, full with a title, description and tracklist.
- Concert events helps you uncover close by reveals from artists in your library and recommends new artists based mostly on what you hearken to.
- Offline Music Recognition in Management Middle identifies songs with out an web connection and delivers outcomes routinely if you’re again on-line.
- Ambient Music widget for Sleep, Chill, Productiveness and Wellbeing brings curated playlists to the Dwelling Display screen.
- Full-screen backgrounds give album and playlist pages a extra immersive look.
Accessibility
- Cut back brilliant results setting minimizes brilliant flashes when tapping on parts like buttons.
- Subtitle and caption settings can be found from the captions icon whereas viewing media, making them simpler to search out, customise and preview.
- Cut back Movement setting extra reliably reduces the animations of Liquid Glass for customers delicate to on-screen movement.
This replace additionally consists of the next enhancements:
- Help for AirPods Max 2.
- 8 new emoji, together with an orca, trombone, landslide, ballet dancer and distorted face, can be found within the emoji keyboard.
- Freeform positive factors superior picture creation and modifying instruments, and a premium content material library, becoming a member of Apple Creator Studio.
- Mark reminders as pressing from the Fast Toolbar or by touching and holding, and filter for pressing reminders in your Good Lists.
- Buy Sharing lets grownup members in Household Sharing teams use their very own cost technique when making purchases, with out counting on the household organizer.
- Improved keyboard accuracy when typing shortly.
For extra iOS information, try what options have been included in iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.2. It’s also possible to check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet for different ideas and methods.
Watch this: Do not Wait: iOS 26.4 Brings New Emoji, Keyboard Fixes, AI Playlists
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