- Apple’s iOS 26.4 update has been released to the public
- It comes with a number of important new features
- Here are five of the most important upgrades you’ll find
Apple has just released the iOS 26.4 update for all the top iPhones, and it comes packed with new features and security improvements, from new shortcuts to keyboard bug fixes. And there are even bigger changes on the way. If you’re wondering what the most important new changes are, we’ve rounded up the top five upgrades below.
To install iOS 26.4, simply open the Settings app on your iPhone and then navigate to General > Software Update. Wait for iOS 26.4 to appear, then tap Update Now. Be sure to back up your iPhone before starting in case something goes wrong.
1. Apple Music add-ons
Apple Music is one of the best music streaming services out there, and curating and creating playlists has always been one of its strong points. With iOS 26.4, Apple has added a new tool called Playlist Playground that should help refine this further. Note that it is currently only available in the US.
The article continues below
With Playlist Playground, Apple Music subscribers can now create a playlist with just an AI-based text prompt. Apple has a few sample prompts you can use, including “morning coffee music” and “disco songs that defined the 1970s.” Apple Music then takes your idea and uses artificial intelligence to generate a 25-song playlist and a custom title to match it. You can add cover images and a description, then customize your playlist with additional text prompts.
Apart from Playlist Playground, Apple Music has got a new Concerts near you feature. As the name suggests, this highlights tour dates and shows for your favorite artists happening in your local area. Albums and playlists have also been tweaked with full-screen images, while you can now add songs to multiple playlists at the same time.
2. New emojis
Apple often adds new emojis with its iOS updates, and iOS 26.4 is no different. This time, Apple fans get eight new characters to use, including a ballet dancer, a contorted face, a battle cloud, a sasquatch, a landslide, an orca, a treasure chest and a trombone.
In addition to that, Apple has added skin tone modifiers for emojis with people wrestling and dancers with bunny ears.
3. CarPlay upgrades
CarPlay is Apple’s in-car infotainment system, and it’s gotten a significant upgrade with iOS 26.4.
First, AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini can now be used directly in CarPlay, so you can ask questions hands-free with your voice. While these chatbots won’t be able to control your car or iPhone functions (you’ll have to stick to Siri for that), they can still add some useful features to your vehicle.
You can also now add an Ambient Music widget to your CarPlay dashboard. This plays music from various themed playlists including Chill, Productivity, Sleep and Wellbeing.
Aside from that, MacRumors claims to have found references to Apple TV support for CarPlay in the iOS 26.4 beta, suggesting that Apple TV users may be able to stream their favorite content to their vehicle in the future (assuming the car isn’t moving). However, this feature is not available right now.
4. Protection against stolen device
Apple introduced Stolen Device Protection in iOS 17.3, and it adds extra protection when your device is away from familiar places.
With it enabled, performing sensitive actions (such as changing your Apple account password) requires biometric authentication to ensure thieves can’t lock you out of your account. Changing some features also involves an hour-long wait before proceeding.
Previously, Stolen Device Protection was not enabled by default. With iOS 26.4, however, Apple has changed that so that the feature is now automatically turned on for all users, strengthening your iPhone’s security in the process.
5. Health app
Your iPhone contains a lot of tools to measure and understand your well-being, and they have been expanded with the arrival of iOS 26.4. Most of these changes can be found in Apple’s Health app.
The latest update adds an average sleep time indicator to the Sleep section of the Health app, which measures your sleep times over the past fortnight. The Vitals section has also been updated for US customers to include blood oxygen levels in a daily average graph.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinions in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can too follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, video unboxings, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
