What keeps the iPhone ever fresh is its software. The same goes for other devices from Apple, like the iPad and Mac. Many are already using some version of iOS 18 that has a premium feature called Apple Intelligence or Apple’s bouquet of artificial intelligence-driven features.
With each new update to iOS 18, new features are appearing. Then there are developers and enthusiasts who want to get a feel of fresh updates that are yet to be rolled out for the consumption of general users. We have been using the first developer beta of iOS 18.4 and it looks like a substantial update. Here are a few things we have noticed.
Multilingual world
When Apple Intelligence launched in October, there was only support for US English. With iOS 18.2, Apple expanded its language options with several new localised English variants. And 18.4 takes things forward. New language support includes localised English in India and Singapore. The pack also includes French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Chinese (simplified).
It is not just about supporting a new language. An idea, expression or thought could be expressed differently in different languages. Apple is expected to get it right when it comes to nuance.
These new languages will be accessible in nearly all regions around the world with the release of iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS Sequoia 15.4 in April, but developers are beginning to test them out.
Playground gets sketch skills
When iOS 18.2 was released, it presented some highly anticipated Apple Intelligence features, including ChatGPT integration, Genmoji and Image Playground.
Image Playground allows users to come up with original images by typing a description. It is possible to use the tool on its own with the dedicated app, or through built-in integration inside other apps like Messages and Notes.
Apple is known for constantly updating its apps with new features and Image Playground is not an exception. In iOS 18.4 beta 1, Apple has added a new style not previously available for Image Playground creations: Sketch. Now there are three style options — Animation, Illustration and Sketch. Before you begin creating an image (or after), simply choose the new style and the output will be updated.
Sketch option is available in Image Playground across iPhone, iPad, and Mac with the new iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS Sequoia 15.4 betas.
Matter of priority
Prioritise Notifications is an Apple Intelligence-powered feature that uses on-device processing. It detects the updates that are important and sorts them into a separate section above your other notifications.
After we updated to 18.4 first developer beta, which is a hefty update, the feature was not showing under the Notifications tab. Here’s the reason. Once we updated the phone using developer beta, there were ancillary files that kept getting downloaded in the background. After 40-50 minutes, the feature was available under notifications.
Priority Notifications is off by default. You can enable it with a toggle in the notifications area of the settings menu. Usually, iOS sorts notifications based on how new they are, with the most recent alerts right at the top. With the new feature enabled, the most important alerts are shown first regardless of how long ago you received them.
Tay-Tay level sonic chill
The update includes a new Ambient Music option that can be added to Control Center. The four new toggles for Ambient Music are Chill, Productivity, Sleep and Wellbeing. These can be added to Control Centre, assigned to your iPhone’s Action button, and placed on your Lock Screen. They are each assigned to a default Apple Music playlist, but users can customise it to any playlist in your Music library. Since you can customise it to a playlist, it will be possible, say, to trigger Taylor Swift songs with a single press of the Action Button. How cool is that!
Note to iPad: You’ve got mail
The initial iPadOS 18.4 and macOS Sequoia 15.4 betas that Apple has given to developers today expand the revamped Mail app to the iPad and the Mac.
To use Apple Intelligence features, you need an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max or the iPhone 16 series
The new Mail app that first debuted on the iPhone with iOS 18.2 is now on iPad. The app can now automatically organise and sort your emails into four different categories:
Promotions: Marketing emails and coupons.
Primary: Personal and time-sensitive emails.
Transactions: Confirmations and receipts.
Updates: News and social media notifications.
The Transactions section aggregates receipts, orders, and deliveries to make it easy to find orders while Updates help you find newsletters, alerts for doctor’s appointments and correspondence and subscription emails.
Categories is the default view after updating to the new software, but you can go back to a list view that shows all emails in chronological order, without separating into categories.
An important dot
The small privacy-indication dot that shows up on the iPhone‘s menu bar when the camera or microphone is in use is now more pronounced thanks to a black background.
More heft for Genmoji
Here’s a small but helpful update. The company has made the Genmoji button in the emoji keyboard larger. There’s also a new popup that appears the first time you use the feature: “Create your own original emoji to add to Messages or use as a sticker.”
Future vision
Though you may not be using the Vision Pro yet, let’s walk you through the update. Apple announced that a new Vision Pro app is coming soon to the iPhone as part of iOS 18.4 and visionOS 2.4 in April. Once available, the app will appear on your iPhone automatically after you update your iPhone to iOS 18.4 and your Apple Vision Pro to visionOS 2.4. In case you don’t have a Vision Pro, you can download this app from the App Store to explore the Discover page and learn more about the spatial computing platform.
Age range
Though we couldn’t test this feature because our phone is already up and running, when someone tries to set up a new iPhone from scratch with iOS 18.4, he will be prompted to pick Age Range of the user. The information will “help iPhone set up parental controls and safety features” — Child (12 or younger), Teen (13 to 17) and Adult (18 or older).
Podcast widget
There is a new Library and Shows widgets from the Podcasts app. These can be added to your iPhone’s Home screen to easily play episodes from a list in your library or play episodes from a show you follow. Each time Apple Podcast gets mentioned, we are reminded of Meryl Streep taking ‘The Colbert Questionert’. Stephen Colbert asked the actor about the most-used app on her phone. She said it was the podcast app and then went on to accidentally do a gesture on primetime television that Colbert jokingly said could be blurred out on CBS.
This and that
There are a few design updates to Control Centre, like a new picker for switching Focus modes, a new animation when adjusting volume and a new design for the Cellular Data toggle. Also, in Settings, the Camera App portion of the Camera Control interface now gets its own dedicated menu.
There are no new emoji in the current beta but MacRumors says OS 18.4 code confirms a future beta will add new characters. New emoji will include bags under eyes, fingerprint, leafless tree, root vegetable, harp, shovel and splatter.
In the Photos app, there’s a new interface for editing your Albums list.
Heads-up
To use Apple Intelligence features, you need an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max or the iPhone 16 series (includes iPhone 16e), which includes the just-announced iPhone 16e that’s due to arrive in a few days.
iOS 18.4 developer beta may not be your cup of tea. Early developer betas are more for developers to test their apps on upcoming versions of iOS. It’s also a way for developers to identify and report bugs, which helps Apple improve the software before it’s released to the general public. You may want to wait till it becomes available for the general public.