Apple launched iOS 26.4 on 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 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 may obtain iOS 26.4 now by going to Settings and tapping Basic. Subsequent, choose Software program Replace, faucet Replace Now and comply with the prompts in your display screen.
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:
The Unicode Consortium is answerable for creating emoji, and it accepted these eight in September as a part of Unicode 17.0. However that is the primary time the emoji are exhibiting 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 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 art work will probably be changed with the video. To show the video off once more, faucet Flip Video Off and the podcast’s art work will return.
Video podcasts are a enjoyable addition to the Podcasts app.
Scale back some Liquid Glass results throughout your machine
Apple’s iOS 26.4 replace provides one other setting to attenuate Liquid Glass results throughout your machine: Scale back Vibrant Results. This 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 Scale back Vibrant Results.
Scale back Vibrant Results can remove some Liquid Glass results.
Apple says the setting will decrease highlighting and flashing when interacting with on-screen parts, similar to buttons or the keyboard. So when 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 known as Playlist Playground. Apple says the function can create a playlist based mostly in your description. When you enter your description, it’ll create a playlist with a title, tracklist and common 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 high 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 function remains to be in beta, so it’d create sudden outcomes. You may ask for a great 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 Concert events function
iOS 26.4 brings a Concert events function 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 take heed to,” Apple writes within the replace’s description. That approach, you’ll be able to simply discover close by reveals.
To seek out Concert events, faucet the magnifying glass icon on the backside of your Apple Music display screen, then faucet Concert events. The function might ask in your location the primary time you employ it. After that, you will see standard reveals close by, together with their dates, instances and areas. Tapping into any of those reveals offers you extra data on the present, in addition to a hyperlink to purchase tickets.
The Concert events tab in Apple Music makes it straightforward to see upcoming reveals in your space.
Shazam works offline, type of
With iOS 26.4, your Management Heart’s Shazam app can work in additional methods. Now, when you aren’t related to the web and use the Management Heart app to establish a track, the app will finally inform you the track’s identification when you’re again on-line.
Ambient Music dwelling display screen widgets
Apple launched two new Ambient Music widgets in your dwelling display screen with iOS 26.4. These widgets allow you to simply entry the 4 Ambient Music playlists: Sleep, Chill, Productiveness and Wellbeing. You may rapidly activate a soothing playlist to unwind after a protracted day, or one that will help you give attention to the duty at hand.
The Ambient Music widget makes it straightforward to play music for simply the suitable setting.
Apple launched these playlists to your iPhone alongside iOS 18.4 in 2024. Nonetheless, you would solely entry these playlists out of your Management Heart 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 technique as a substitute of relying on the group organizer’s fee technique. Meaning when you’re an grownup and have a household sharing group with your personal dad and mom, siblings or different members of the family, now you can buy a sport, film or one thing else with your personal data as a substitute of utilizing another person’s data after which paying them again.
This is usually a useful function that permits you to keep away from the effort of paying another person again for utilizing their fee data. And when you’re the individual whose card is at all times used, it may be a pleasant approach 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’ll be able to simply change the caption type whereas watching content material in sure apps, similar to 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 screen 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 when 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 regulate the subtitles in some apps due to iOS 26.4.
Extra management over wallpaper Collections
The iOS 26.4 replace additionally offers you extra management over which wallpaper Collections are in your iPhone. Now, when you go to Settings > Wallpaper > Add New Wallpaper, you’ll be able to faucet Get below Collections similar to Climate and Astronomy.
If you wish to delete a Assortment out of your machine, faucet the test mark to the suitable 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 just a little area.
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 take heed to.
- Offline Music Recognition in Management Heart identifies songs with out an web connection and delivers outcomes mechanically whenever you’re again on-line.
- Ambient Music widget for Sleep, Chill, Productiveness and Wellbeing brings curated playlists to the House Display.
- 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 search out, customise and preview.
- Scale back Movement setting extra reliably reduces the animations of Liquid Glass for individuals 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 beneficial properties 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 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 technique when making purchases, with out counting on the household organizer.
- Improved keyboard accuracy when typing rapidly.
For extra iOS information, try what options had been included in iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.2. It’s also possible to check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet for different suggestions and tips.
