Here's why iOS 18.4 could be the biggest iPhone upgrade we've seen yet
iOS 18.4 is supposedly dropping this April with the beta version available within the next few weeks - and it could be the biggest update yet.
Apple's iOS 18 updates have been a huge upgrade in software and hardware, bringing with it Visual Intelligence, Genmoji, bug fixes and vital security patches.
According to reports, iOS 18.4 is going to include some more major software upgrades for the latest iPhones. And it should bring what we've all been waiting for: Siri 2.0. Previously, in iOS 18.2, Siri is capable of completing more tasks than ever, thanks to its ChatGPT integration.
And Apple did promise 'the start of a new era for Siri' at WWDC24 so its success will be a big indicator of whether Apple Intelligence is truly the next level of Apple tech.
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Bloomberg's Mark Gurman predicts that the iOS 18.4 beta could arrive as soon as this week. So, now’s the perfect time to break down what’s coming.
Siri's makeover in 18.4 will be packing a large AI-punch and, alongside an impressive three new upgrades:
1. Personal context
First, the voice assistant will now have a memory - kind of. It will be able to track info from across your devices including emails and photos to gather personal context on your queries.
This is so Siri can provide more relevant and personalised responses. For example, if you ask Siri: “What was the name of that restaurant my friend mentioned?”, it will search through your messages and pull up an accurate answer.
2. On-screen awareness
In iOS 18.4, Siri will be able to know what you're looking at on your iPhone's screen and provide help.
Let’s say you’re looking at a ticket or document, you can now ask Siri to add the details as a calendar event or provide further details about it.
3. App integration
Come the new update, Siri will work better with both Apple and third-party apps - a long-awaited feature since its debut in 2011.
With Siri having full app integration, it will be able to learn more about you through your software better and anticipate your needs.
However, this will only be as good as long as the app developers update their software to support these new features.
iOS 18.4 is the final piece of the puzzle for Apple’s first wave of AI-powered features. So it will be interesting to see how smoothly it all functions and how well they're received by the Apple community.