Discover the Top 10 Features in iOS 18.4: New Emojis, Ambient Music, and Beyond [Video]

Apple has officially launched iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 for public use. Although it lacks the much-awaited contextual Siri with on-screen awareness, it still brings several significant features. In this hands-on video, we explore the top 10 features and changes introduced in iOS 18.4 that users should take note of. Don’t forget to subscribe to DMN on YouTube for more videos related to iOS.

New Emoji

The iOS 18.4 update introduces seven new emoji characters as previewed by the Unicode Consortium last year. While not overly exciting, these new additions help fill some gaps in the emoji selection. The new emoji include:

• Face with bags under eyes
• Fingerprint
• Leafless tree
• Root vegetable
• Harp
• Shovel
• Splatter

To view these emoji, users must be running iOS 18.4 or later. If you send them to a friend who hasn’t updated yet, they will appear as blank spaces.

Video: Top 10 iOS 18.4 Features

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Ambient Music

The new Ambient Music feature in the iOS Control Center allows users to play one of four ambient music stations on-demand. These stations primarily offer instrumental music without lyrics.

The four Ambient Music stations are: Sleep (for restful slumber), Chill (for relaxation), Productivity (to help focus on tasks), and Wellbeing (for meditation and self-care). Each station can be personalized with specific playlists from Apple. The playlists are as follows:

Sleep

Chill

Productivity

Wellbeing

The Ambient Music interface is essentially a simplified version of the Music app, providing standard transport controls for playback management. Users can access the mini app directly from the Control Center shortcuts or assign it to features like the Action button or Lock Screen shortcuts.

Additionally, Ambient Music stations can be tailored with custom playlists from Apple Music, granting users the flexibility to personalize their listening experience.

Prioritize Notifications

iPhones equipped with Apple Intelligence will find a new Prioritize Notifications feature in Settings → Notifications. By enabling this feature, important notifications identified by Apple Intelligence will be highlighted in a separate section on the Lock Screen for easy visibility. Users can manage which apps can opt into prioritized notifications within the same settings panel.

Visual Intelligence Shortcuts

A new Visual Intelligence shortcut is now available in Control Center with iOS 18.4, giving users with Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones more ways to access this feature. Visual Intelligence allows users to learn about items in their camera view by leveraging ChatGPT or Google Image Search. The feature has recently been enhanced to include Siri Knowledge for identifying plants and animals as well as adding events from posters to the calendar.

Previously, Visual Intelligence could only be accessed by long-pressing the Camera Control button on iPhone 16 devices. However, the newly launched iPhone 16e lacks this button, prompting Apple to provide alternative access methods.

Users can now launch Visual Intelligence via Control Center, Lock Screen shortcuts, or by assigning the Control Center shortcut to the Action Button. iPhone 15 Pro users, previously limited by the absence of a Camera Control button, can now benefit from Visual Intelligence thanks to this update.

Apple News+ Food Recipes

For Apple News+ subscribers, a new food recipes feature has been integrated into the News app. This feature is particularly beneficial on larger iPad screens, presenting ingredients alongside articles and step-by-step instructions. Embedded timers are included to make following recipes easier.

It’s easy to envision this feature playing a central role in Apple’s long-rumored HomePod device, as having accessible recipes on a large screen or speaker in the kitchen seems ideal.

Robot Vacuum Support Over Matter

If you own a Matter-compatible robot vacuum, like the SwitchBot S10, you’ll be pleased to discover that you can now add it directly to the Home app, allowing you to start, stop, and schedule cleaning sessions using Siri.

New macOS Proximity-Based Setup

While iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS have offered proximity-based setup for nearby iPhones or iPads, the Mac has been lacking this feature until now. With the release of iOS 18.4 and macOS 15.4, users with new Macs will finally enjoy proximity-based setup from nearby iPhones or iPads. I tested this feature with the M4 Mac mini, and it performed as expected. If you’ve purchased any of the recent Mac hardware, such as the new M4 MacBook Air, this feature should work seamlessly.

iPadOS Mail App Updates

Before the iPadOS 18.4 update, the iPadOS Mail app was missing the new categories feature that had been available on the iPhone for quite some time. With the iPadOS 18.4 update, the Mail app has been updated to include the Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions categories for enhanced email organization.

New Photos Updates

The Photos app introduces several useful updates with iOS 18.4, including enhanced sorting options in the utilities and media types sections, the ability to filter items not yet in an album or shared with you, and the option to change the albums section from a list view to a key photo view.

Hide Recent Searches in Safari

Users can now opt to hide recent searches in Safari by navigating to Settings → Apps → Safari and turning off the Show Recent Searches switch.

DMN’s Take

In all honesty, iOS 18.4 may feel a bit disappointing due to the absence of the anticipated new Siri features that were expected in this release. The new contextual Siri with on-screen awareness has been postponed indefinitely, likely to be included in a future iOS 19 update. However, despite this setback, there are numerous new features in iOS 18.4 that iPhone and iPad users will find beneficial, and this is just a small overview of what’s new. For an extensive look at all features, be sure to check out our detailed roundup on everything iOS 18.4 has to offer.

What are your thoughts on iOS 18.4? We’d love to hear from you.