Apple has released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 release candidate to developers. The update has been made available for iPhone and iPad, just a week after the fourth dev beta was released. Developers can update to this new release by going to Settings > General > Software Update on their devices.
While initially this release was supposed to ship with major Apple Intelligence features including improved personal context, app intents, and screen reading enhancements for Siri, Apple postponed the features due to development challenges.This release still contains some new features and improvements. Here are some of the highlights:
- Apple’s iOS 18.4 will make HomeKit architecture upgrade mandatory for all users
- New Emojis including “Face with Bags Under Eyes,” an emoji depicting exhaustion that many users will likely find relatable, fingerprint, a root vegetable, a leafless tree, a harp, a shovel, a paint splatter, and the Flag of Sark.
- Visual Intelligence support for iPhone 15 Pro
- Apple Intelligence support for more languages: French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese. Localized English versions for Singapore and India.
- Priority Notifications which uses Apple Intelligence to automatically highlight the most important notifications on the Lock Screen so that users do not miss any important alerts.
- Apple News+ Food: a new dedicated section in Apple News app focused on recipes, restaurant reviews, and curated food content for paid subscibers.
- Image Playground Sketch style: A new Sketch style is now available alongside the existing Animation and Illustration options for AI-generated images.
- Ambient music toggles: Control Center now offers dedicated toggles for Chill, Productivity, Sleep, and Wellbeing modes.
- CarPlay user interface upgrade: Cars with larger screens can now display three rows of app icons instead of two.
- Apple Vision Pro app: A new app for iPhone allows Vision Pro owners to browse visionOS content, download apps, and set up Guest Mode for Vision Pro.
- Mail categorization is now available for iPad. The feature was initially released for iPhone, but will now be available for both iPad and Mac with the latest software updates.
Since both iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 are now available as release candidates, the final general release could happen as soon as next week. In rare situations where Apple finds critical issues, it may seed a second release candidate, otherwise, expect the software update to be available to everyone by the first week of April.
