Apple launched iOS 26.4 on March 24, a few week after the tech big launched iOS 26.3.1 (a), the corporate’s first Background Safety Enchancment replace. The latest replace brings a slew of options to your iPhone, together with new emoji and video podcasts, plus greater than two dozen bug fixes and safety patches.
You possibly can 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 screen.
Listed here are a number 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:
The Unicode Consortium is accountable for creating emoji, and it authorised these eight in September as a part of Unicode 17.0. However that is the primary time the emoji are displaying up on iPhones.
Watch this: Do not Wait: iOS 26.4 Brings New Emoji, Keyboard Fixes, AI Playlists
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 prime 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 can 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.
Scale back some Liquid Glass results throughout your system
Apple’s iOS 26.4 replace provides one other setting to attenuate Liquid Glass results throughout your system: Scale back Shiny Results. Here is the place to seek out this setting.
1. Faucet Settings.
2. Faucet Accessibility.
3. Faucet Show & Textual content Dimension.
4. Scroll down the menu to seek out Scale back Shiny Results.
Scale back Shiny Results can eradicate some Liquid Glass results.
Apple says the setting will decrease highlighting and flashing when interacting with on-screen parts, resembling 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 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 would create a playlist with a title, tracklist and basic description.
To entry Playlist Playground, first you must be an Apple Music subscriber. Then, open Apple Music and go to your Library. In your Library, you will see a brand new icon on the prime of your display screen with a plus signal 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 remains to be in beta, so it’d create surprising outcomes. You would possibly ask for a superb health club combine and find yourself with some Whitney Houston — however who’s to say Whitney is not good health club music?
Discover close by concert events with the aptly named Live shows characteristic
iOS 26.4 brings a Live shows characteristic to your Apple Music app.
“Live shows helps you uncover close by exhibits from artists in your library and recommends new artists based mostly on what you take heed to,” Apple writes within the replace’s description. That method, you may simply discover close by exhibits.
To seek out Live shows, faucet the magnifying glass icon on the backside of your Apple Music display screen, then faucet Live shows. The characteristic could ask on your location the primary time you employ it. After that, you will see common exhibits close by, together with their dates, occasions and areas. Tapping into any of those exhibits provides you extra data on the present, in addition to a hyperlink to purchase tickets.
The Live shows tab in Apple Music makes it straightforward to see upcoming exhibits 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 inform you the music’s id when you’re again on-line.
Ambient Music residence display screen widgets
Apple launched two new Ambient Music widgets on your residence display screen with iOS 26.4. These widgets allow you to simply entry the 4 Ambient Music playlists: Sleep, Chill, Productiveness and Wellbeing. You possibly can rapidly activate a soothing playlist to unwind after an extended day, or one that can assist you deal with the duty at hand.
The Ambient Music widget makes it straightforward to play music for simply the precise 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 fee methodology as an alternative of relying on the group organizer’s fee methodology. Meaning in case you’re an grownup and have a household sharing group with your personal mother and father, siblings or different relations, now you can buy a sport, film or one thing else with your personal data as an alternative of utilizing another person’s data after which paying them again.
This is usually a useful characteristic that means that you can keep away from the trouble of paying another person again for utilizing their fee data. And in case you’re the particular person whose card is at all times used, it may be a pleasant method 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 may simply change the caption model whereas watching content material in sure apps, resembling Apple TV.
To see these choices, begin enjoying a video, then faucet the speech bubble icon within the bottom-right nook of your display screen to open the subtitle menu. Faucet Fashion, and you will see the subtitle choices Traditional (the default setting), Massive Textual content, Define Textual content and Clear Background. So in case you and some others are watching one thing in your iPhone and wish to make certain everybody can see the captions, you would possibly select Massive Textual content.
You possibly can 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 may faucet Get underneath Collections resembling Climate and Astronomy.
If you wish to delete a Assortment out of your system, faucet the examine mark to the precise 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 house.
You possibly can take away wallpaper Collections out of your iPhone if you wish to save slightly house.
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.
- Live shows helps you uncover close by exhibits from artists in your library and recommends new artists based mostly on what you take heed 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 House Display screen.
- Full-screen backgrounds give album and playlist pages a extra immersive look.
Accessibility
- Scale back shiny results setting minimizes shiny 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 seek out, customise and preview.
- Scale back Movement setting extra reliably reduces the animations of Liquid Glass for folks delicate to on-screen movement.
This replace additionally contains the next enhancements:
- Assist for AirPods Max 2.
- Eight 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 Sensible Lists.
- Buy Sharing lets grownup members in Household Sharing teams use their very own fee methodology when making purchases, with out counting on the household organizer.
- Improved keyboard accuracy when typing rapidly.
For extra iOS information, take a look at what options had been included in iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.2. You can too check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet for different suggestions and tips.
