- Apple published a second candidate for iOS 18.4
- The latest rumors suggest that the update could be published on April 1
- Official publication notes lists upgrades of Apple intelligence and other new features
Apple has published the second candidate for iOS 18.4, and although we still have no release date for iOS 18.4 proper, it seems likely that the next iOS update in the middle of the year takes place.
Indeed, we expect iOS 18.4 to land this week (macrumors predict on April 1), and this pre-version version of the update gives us an official idea of what to expect.
It seems that iOS 18.4 is a fairly substantial update according to the mid -year standards – Apple Intelligence continues its trembling deployment, the photo application obtains new features, Apple News + obtains tasty new recipes and the pleasure of ambient music are on a surprise.
As for compatibility, all iPhone models that are currently supporting iOS 18.3 – It is the iPhone 16 range from current generation iPhone 16 – will certainly take care of iOS 18.4.
New features of Apple Intelligence
iOS 18.4 sees Apple continuing the deployment of Apple Intelligence for compatible devices, with a handful of features announced for the first time in 2024, which was finally heading to users.
The big ticket this time is the priority notifications, which use AI to identify important notifications and pin them on your locking screen.
Image Playground also obtains a late function in the form of the sketch style, which allows users to create images inspired by hand -drawn sketches using AI.
Another minor addition is revision summaries in the App Store; These are overviews generated by the AI of the applications generated by the user.
Apple Intelligence also obtains an assumption of eight new languages: simplified Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), French (France, Canada), Italian, Japanese, Korean and German, as well as two local English dialects, for Singapore and India.
Siri is visibly absent from these exit notes: we originally hoped to see Siri obtaining her long-awaited update from Apple Intelligence with iOS 18.4, but it seems that we will wait even longer for this revolutionary upgrade (hopefully).
It now seems more likely that Siri will obtain its upgrade from AI with iOS 19, which will probably be released in September alongside the iPhone 17 range.
Photos application updates
IOS 18.4 provides a selection of new features to the Photos Application, which facilitates the organization and reorganization of your photos and videos.
All the collections obtain a selection of filtering options, such as the inclusion or exclusion of photos from a particular album or sorting by the oldest or most recent photos.
Users also acquire the possibility of sorting their media by the modified date, rather than the date created, which is useful for keeping the photos recently cropped or modified together.
It is also possible to deactivate recently shared and recently consulted albums, and hidden photos will no longer be imported on Mac or PC if the user has activated the USE ID Safety option.
Apple News + gets recipes
With iOS 18.4, Apple News + wins a new food section full of stories on a healthy diet, restaurants and recipes.
This is a fairly important addition to the Apple News + service already quite complete, and gives users many new items to dig.
The recipe catalog allows users to record recipes for later, and a monitoring mode of monitoring makes them put them into practice a piece of cake.
Keep in mind that this is a new feature for the Apple News +service, which costs $ 12.99 / £ 12.99 / $ 19.99 per month, not for the free Apple News application.
Vision Pro get your own iPhone application
IOS 18.4 adds the Vision Pro application to iPhone, giving professional vision users the possibility of checking the new spatial content and obtaining quick information on their helmet.
By the sounds of things, the application is automatically installed for those who have a pro vision helmet recorded on their Apple account.
Ambient music of the control center
It’s weird. Apple adds an ambient music function dedicated to iPhone with iOS 18.4 – but it is not its own application, or even part of the Apple Music application.
Instead, users must add ambient musical control to their control center, in a way similar to the way Shazam is currently implemented.
Users then have access to four lists for playing ambient music, entitled Sleep, Chill, Productivity and Wellbeing.
For those who have not met with ambient music before, it is a form of relaxed and slow music that aims to be pleasant to listen without concentration – generally we are talking about wood, ropes, synthesizers and a lack of percussion.
The version notes do not suggest that users will need an Apple Music subscription to use the new ambient music feature.
Other new features
In addition to the new features listed above, iOS 18.4 is also delivered with a handful of updates and smaller bug corrections.
For example, screen time limits are now in place when an application is uninstalled and reinstalled, and it is easier to add secure parameters during children during the device configuration. Safari also obtains recent research suggestions.
In addition, 10 new system languages have been added to iOS: Bangla, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Ourdou.
Complete version notes can be found on the blog of Apple developers. Make sure to let us know what you expect most in the comments below.
