Anticipation builds as iOS 18.4 is set to debut for iPhone users in just a few weeks. For those not on the beta, here’s a summary of four exciting features arriving with iOS 18.4 next month…
Priority Notifications
While Apple has postponed the launch of a “more personalized” Siri, a notable new feature in iOS 18.4 is Priority Notifications. This addition intelligently highlights your most critical notifications.
Here’s how Apple describes it:
Apple Intelligence can present notifications deemed important in a distinct section on the Lock Screen, allowing you to catch up on missed alerts. You can still swipe up to see all notifications.
You can customize Priority Notifications through the Settings app, including the option to add or exclude specific apps from priority sorting.
Note that Apple Intelligence is available on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and the entire iPhone 16 lineup.
Ambient Music
A standout feature of iOS 18.4 is ambient music, introducing four new Control Center toggles that allow you to play ambient music with just a single tap:
- Wellbeing
- Chill
- Productivity
- Sleep
These options can be positioned in the Control Center, assigned to your iPhone’s Action button, or displayed on the Lock Screen. Each toggle is set to a default Apple Music playlist, but customization is permitted to align with any playlist in your Music library. Playback is managed through a streamlined Now Playing interface featuring play/pause, skip, volume controls, and AirPlay functionality.
New Emoji
The beta version of iOS 18.4 introduces seven fresh emoji options for iPhone users:
- Face with bags under eyes
- Fingerprint
- Leafless tree
- Root vegetable
- Harp
- Shovel
- Splatter
In an era of Genmoji, which enables the creation of endless emoji, do these new offerings hold significance? Only time will tell.
Apple News+ Food
With iOS 18.4, the Apple News app unveils a new “Apple News+ Food” feature that compiles thousands of curated recipes from premier publishers. The recipes are showcased in a clean and user-friendly interface with filtering options and integration with the Clock app, among other features.
According to Apple:
The new Food feature allows users to discover articles curated by Apple News editors, as well as browse, search, and filter a vast Recipe Catalog containing tens of thousands of recipes, with new additions every day. The elegantly designed recipe layout simplifies the review of ingredients and instructions, and a new cooking mode presents step-by-step directions in full screen. Users can also save favorite recipes for easy access later, even offline.
Conclusion
iOS 18.4 brings many additional features, with comprehensive details available in our dedicated guide.
Apple has confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be rolled out to all users in April. Are you using the beta version? What features and changes do you find most appealing? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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