Featured Image Credit: NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty
For all its faults and complaints that the latest iPhone updates suck all the life out of our smartphones, at least Apple keeps things ticking along with a regular content drop.
The slow rollout of iOS 18 and its subsequent updates have been divisive, especially with some branding Apple Intelligence as the 'worst' feature the tech giant has ever added.
While we're slowly getting used to Apple Intelligence, the company has wasted no time in powering forward with iOS 18.4 and another slew of supposedly next-gen features.
The iOS 18.4 beta is already here for developers and public beta testers, and if you can't wait to get your hands on it, Apple has sneakily confirmed when it'll be unleashed to the masses.
Advert
Although there's some disappointment that the promise of a more conversational Siri is being rolled over until iOS 18.5, there's still plenty to explore.
MacRumors has highlighted some of iOS 18.4's best features, with Apple Intelligence now able to locate and priotizie your most important notifications on your Lock Screen. It’s a case of simply heading to Settings, selecting Notifications, and then Prioritize Notifications to make sure you don’t miss those important pings.
If you want some chill background music, the Ambient Music feature will let you group similar songs from your Control Center. It means you no longer have to scroll for like-minded music, with categories including Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing.
Although not the biggest change, a new Food section is coming to the News app, giving Apple News+ subscribers access to tens of thousands of mouth-watering recipes and other foodie news.
All of the above are currently available in the iOS 18.4 beta, with two more big features coming at a later point. Despite the Apple Vision Pro hardly being a best-seller for Apple and having now been put out of production, a new Apple Vision Pro app is coming to the iPhone.
Offering Vision Pro owners the ability to download apps and games from the App Store, they can also make the most of Apple TV content and get handy hints about how to navigate their device.
Finally, it wouldn't be a big Apple update without some new emojis. Backing up findings from 2024, the site has reportedly seen code that points to a fingerprint emoji, root vegetable, and a shovel. Something tells us we'll be using the 'face with bags under eyes' emoji a LOT on Monday mornings.
In terms of when iOS 18.4 will be rolled out, the Apple News+ Food announcement says: "Coming with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April."
It's a pretty broad window that's yet to be narrowed down, but with at least a month until the next big update, it gives us plenty of time to explore what's on the way and for other users to inevitably moan about what's not included.
