Apple launched iOS 26.4 on March 24, a few week after the tech large launched iOS 26.3.1 (a), the firm’s first Background Security Improvement replace. While the Background Security Improvement fastened a problem in WebKit, iOS 26.4 introduced a slew of options to your iPhone, together with new emoji and video podcasts, plus greater than two dozen bug fixes and security patches.
You can obtain the newest iOS model and these options now by going to Settings and tapping General. Next, choose Software Update, faucet Update Now and comply with the prompts in your display.
Here are a few of the new options iOS 26.4 brings to your iPhone.
New emoji
All the new emoji iOS 26.4 brings to your iPhone.
With iOS 26.4, your iPhone will get eight new emoji:
The Unicode Consortium is chargeable for creating emoji, and it accredited these eight in September as a part of Unicode 17.0. But that is the first time the emoji are exhibiting up on iPhones.
Watch this: iPhone in Space: The Many Apple Products That Left Earth
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 in the high proper nook of the title card. Once you are listening, open the media participant and faucet the Turn Video On button close to the podcast’s progress bar. The podcast’s art work might be changed with the video. To flip the video off once more, faucet Turn Video Off and the podcast’s art work will return.
Video podcasts are a enjoyable addition to the Podcasts app.
Reduce some Liquid Glass results throughout your system
Apple’s iOS 26.4 replace provides one other setting to decrease Liquid Glass results throughout your system: Reduce Bright Effects. Here’s the place to discover this setting.
1. Tap Settings.
2. Tap Accessibility.
3. Tap Display & Text Size.
4. Scroll down the menu to discover Reduce Bright Effects.
Reduce Bright Effects can eradicate some Liquid Glass results.
Apple says the setting will decrease highlighting and flashing when interacting with on-screen components, resembling buttons or the keyboard. So for those who discover sure flash components 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 known as Playlist Playground. Apple says the function can create a playlist based mostly in your description. Once you enter your description, it’ll create a playlist with a title, tracklist and basic description.
To entry Playlist Playground, first you will have to be an Apple Music subscriber. Then, open Apple Music and go to your Library. In your Library, you will see a brand new icon at the high of your display with a plus signal and some strains subsequent to it. Tap this, and you will be prompted to describe your playlist.
Playlist Playground can generate a playlist for you very quickly.
Apple notes this function remains to be in beta, so it’d create surprising outcomes. You may ask for an excellent fitness center combine and find yourself with some Whitney Houston — however who’s to say Whitney is not good fitness center music?
Find close by concert events with the aptly named Concerts function
iOS 26.4 brings a Concerts function to your Apple Music app.
“Concerts helps you discover nearby shows from artists in your library and recommends new artists based on what you listen to,” Apple writes in the replace’s description. That manner, you’ll be able to simply discover close by exhibits.
To discover Concerts, faucet the magnifying glass icon at the backside of your Apple Music display, then faucet Concerts. The function might ask to your location the first time you employ it. After that, you will see well-liked exhibits close by, together with their dates, instances and areas. Tapping into any of those exhibits provides you extra info on the present, in addition to a hyperlink to purchase tickets.
The Concerts tab in Apple Music makes it straightforward to see upcoming exhibits in your space.
Shazam works offline, form of
With iOS 26.4, your Control Center’s Shazam app can work in additional methods. Now, for those who aren’t related to the web and use the Control Center app to determine a track, the app will finally inform you the track’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, Productivity and Wellbeing. You can shortly activate a soothing playlist to unwind after a protracted day, or one to make it easier to concentrate on the process at hand.
The Ambient Music widget makes it straightforward to play music for simply the proper setting.
Apple launched these playlists to your iPhone alongside iOS 18.4 in 2024. However, you might solely entry these playlists out of your Control Center at the time.
Let different adults in your Family pay for themselves
In iOS 26.4, different adults in your Family sharing group can now use their own payment method as a substitute of relying on the group organizer’s fee technique. That means for those who’re an grownup and have a household sharing group with your personal dad and mom, siblings or different relations, now you can buy a recreation, film or one thing else with your personal info as a substitute of utilizing another person’s info after which paying them again.
This generally is a useful function that enables you to keep away from the problem of paying another person again for utilizing their fee info. And for those who’re the particular person whose card is at all times used, it may be a pleasant manner to guarantee others pay for their very own stuff and do not freeload off you.
More caption choices when viewing movies
With iOS 26.4, you’ll be able to simply change the caption type whereas watching content material in sure apps, resembling Apple TV.
To see these choices, begin taking part in a video, then faucet the speech bubble icon in the bottom-right nook of your display to open the subtitle menu. Tap Style, and you will see the subtitle choices Classic (the default setting), Large Text, Outline Text and Transparent Background. So for those who and some others are watching one thing in your iPhone and need to be certain that everybody can see the captions, you may select Large Text.
You can regulate the subtitles in some apps thanks to iOS 26.4.
More management over wallpaper Collections
The iOS 26.4 replace additionally provides you extra management over which wallpaper Collections are in your iPhone. Now, for those who go to Settings > Wallpaper > Add New Wallpaper, you’ll be able to faucet Get below Collections resembling Weather and Astronomy.
If you need to delete a Collection out of your system, faucet the examine mark to the proper of the downloaded Collection, and the possibility to Remove from Gallery seems. Tap this to delete the Collection out of your iPhone, saving you some valuable house.
You can take away wallpaper Collections out of your iPhone if you need to save slightly house.
Here are the launch notes for iOS 26.4.
Apple Music
- Playlist Playground (beta) generates a playlist out of your description, full with a title, description and tracklist.
- Concerts helps you uncover close by exhibits from artists in your library and recommends new artists based mostly on what you pay attention to.
- Offline Music Recognition in Control Center identifies songs with out an web connection and delivers outcomes robotically while you’re again on-line.
- Ambient Music widget for Sleep, Chill, Productivity and Wellbeing brings curated playlists to the Home Screen.
- Full-screen backgrounds give album and playlist pages a extra immersive look.
Accessibility
- Reduce vivid results setting minimizes vivid flashes when tapping on components like buttons.
- Subtitle and caption settings can be found from the captions icon whereas viewing media, making them simpler to discover, customise and preview.
- Reduce Motion setting extra reliably reduces the animations of Liquid Glass for individuals delicate to on-screen movement.
This replace additionally contains the following enhancements:
- Support for AirPods Max 2.
- Eight new emoji, together with an orca, trombone, landslide, ballet dancer and distorted face, can be found in the emoji keyboard.
- Freeform good points superior picture creation and enhancing instruments, and a premium content material library, becoming a member of Apple Creator Studio.
- Mark reminders as pressing from the Quick Toolbar or by touching and holding, and filter for pressing reminders in your Smart Lists.
- Purchase Sharing lets grownup members in Family Sharing teams use their very own fee technique when making purchases, with out counting on the household organizer.
- Improved keyboard accuracy when typing shortly.
For extra iOS information, try what options had been included in iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.2. You also can check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet for different ideas and tips.
