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All of the New Features in iOS 18.4 So Far

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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple is beta testing iOS 18.4 at the current time, and while the update doesn't have the Apple Intelligence Siri features we were hoping for, there are a number of new additions that are worth knowing about.

iOS-18.4-Beta-1-Thumb-1.jpg

Priority Notifications - Apple Intelligence

There is a new Priority Notifications feature that can show you your most important notifications first. Priority Notifications is disabled by default, but it can be turned on by going to Settings > Notifications > Prioritize Notifications and tapping the toggle.

prioritize-notifications-ios-18-4.jpg

Priority Notifications can also be set up on a per-app basis, with toggles available in the same sections of the Settings app.

ios-18-4-prioritize-notifications.jpg

With the feature enabled, Apple Intelligence will show notifications that may be important in a dedicated section of the Lock Screen.

Visual Intelligence for iPhone 15 Pro Models

Visual Intelligence is now available on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, marking the first time that Apple has made the feature available on an iPhone that's not an iPhone 16.

Apple-Visual-Intelligence.jpg


Since the iPhone 15 Pro models do not have a Camera Control button, Visual Intelligence can be activated via the Control Center or with the Action Button.

Visual Intelligence Action Button

Apple added a new Action Button option that activates Visual Intelligence, and it can be used as an alternative to the Camera Control button for Visual Intelligence on the iPhone 16 models.

ios-18-4-visual-intelligence-action-button.jpg


Control Center Apple Intelligence Section

In the Control Center, there's now an Apple Intelligence section. It includes the Type to Siri option that was in the now-removed Siri section, along with new options for activating Siri and using Visual Intelligence.

ios-18-4-control-center-apple-intelligence.jpg

Image Playground Sketch Style

Image Playground now includes a Sketch style that joins the Animation and Illustration styles. Sketch was previously available for Image Wand, but now it is a third style that can be used in Image Playground.

ios-18-4-image-playground.jpg

Swap styles by tapping on the "+" button in the Image Playground app.

Apple also replaced the "Winter Holidays" theme with a new "Spring" theme.

New Apple Intelligence Languages

French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (simplified), along with localized English for Singapore and India.

New Emoji

There are new emoji characters in iOS 18.4, including bags under eyes, fingerprint, leafless tree, root vegetable, harp, shovel, and splatter.

iOS-18.4-Emoji-Feature.jpg


Vision Pro App

If you have a Vision Pro headset, you'll see a Vision Pro app on your iPhone after installing iOS 18.4. The Vision Pro app helps you discover and download content on the Vision Pro.

vision-pro-app.jpg

There are dedicated sections for Immersive Video, 3D movies, and more, with options to download apps directly to the Vision Pro without having to use the headset. Apple also added a dedicated My Vision Pro section with a user guide and tips for using the device.

Guest setup can now be managed on an iPhone or iPad linked to a Vision Pro, making it easier for Vision Pro owners to let others test their headset. There are controls for limiting what apps a guest is able to use, and an AirPlay mode for guiding the guest through Vision Pro experiences. When a guest user puts on the Vision Pro, a prompt to enable Guest Mode will appear on the headset owner's device.

Apple News+ Food

iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 include a new Apple News Food section for Apple News+ subscribers. The Food section features tens of thousands of recipes, stories about restaurants, tips for healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more.

ios-18-4-food-news.jpg

Content will come from top food publishers such as Allrecipes, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Good Food, and Serious Eats.Apple News editors will curate food-related stories, and there will be a dedicated Recipe Catalog section where new recipes are added regularly. An included cook mode provides step-by-step instructions, and users can save favorite recipes for offline access.

Ambient Music

iOS 18.4 includes a new Ambient Music option that can be added to Control Center. There are four different sound categories, including Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing.

ios-18-4-ambient-music.jpg

Each category can be added to Control Center separately, and tapping one plays a random selection of sounds or music from that particular category.

You can't choose what's playing from Control Center, but if you play a category and then tap into the Dynamic Island at the top or access the Now Playing widget, you can skip songs and see the name of what's currently playing... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: All of the New Features in iOS 18.4 So Far
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/guide/ios-18-4-features/
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IOS needs more advanced AI features. That’s all that matters right now. Not new emojis. Not Genmoji or image playground. Nobody cares about that stuff, unless you’re eight years old.

I should be able to open an “Apple Intelligence” app on my phone, type to it, speak to it, and it should be able to cross reference commands and questions through multiple apps at the same time. It should be able to translate voice calls and texts in real time. It should be able to translate and draft notes better than it does.

At this point, how can something already be so behind, yet, it’s brand new.
 
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I wonder if the ambient music will show up as a song when u go to settings general about scroll to songs...will those 4 ambient music sounds be considered a song under that section....even if u have 0 songs on your phone? This makes u thinkg its adding songs when you dont have songs on your phone?
 
WarmWinterHat said:
Does ambient music require an Apple Music subscription?
Click to expand...
Good question, the way I read it was its only on the conrol center but im not sure. Thats why I was wondering if these 4 ambient music were going to be categorized under SONGS when u go to settings general about. Because I have 0 songs so this makes me think theyre giving me 4 songs i dont want. I would think thats a violation of some sort by apple because its gonna take up space on your phone that u dont want taking up. Similar to how people are upset that the AI features are taking up 7gb on their phones.
 
As a European using Apple Intelligence for the very first time using the 18.4 dev beta, I understand the disappointment.

1740444042635.png

using ChatGPT yields a response not about Siri
1740444108011.png

and tapping the feedback button crashed Siri for the first 10 times.

But this, this is shameful
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Interestingly I still have the indicators in the DI. Anyway, at least it’s entertaining.

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Edit: there is a new animation when skipping through a video for example in fullscreen safari videos
 
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Lizzard899 said:
Good question, the way I read it was its only on the conrol center but im not sure. Thats why I was wondering if these 4 ambient music were going to be categorized under SONGS when u go to settings general about. Because I have 0 songs so this makes me think theyre giving me 4 songs i dont want. I would think thats a violation of some sort by apple because its gonna take up space on your phone that u dont want taking up. Similar to how people are upset that the AI features are taking up 7gb on their phones.
Click to expand...
Cached files aren’t a crime, bloating your system BUT giving people the option to un-bloat isn’t either.
 
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Parowdy said:
As a European using Apple Intelligence for the very first time using the 18.4 dev beta, I understand the disappointment.

View attachment 2485712
using ChatGPT yields a response not about Siri
View attachment 2485717
and tapping the feedback button crashed Siri for the first 10 times.

But this, this is shameful
View attachment 2485718View attachment 2485719

Interestingly I still have the indicators in the DI. Anyway, at least it’s entertaining.

View attachment 2485725View attachment 2485726View attachment 2485728View attachment 2485738
Click to expand...
It is what it is. I told so many EU folks they werent missing anything
 
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Chungry said:
Oof I just don't know why they even went down the path with generative tools
Click to expand...
I can’t show it but the image it created of my girlfriends mother was hilarious, apparently she is a dude at a car dealership or whatever.
For a company trying their best to be politically correct some results I’ve gotten might be very offensive to people with less humor and their feedback system isn’t the greatest either. Hopefully this will all work out like Apple Maps did eventually…
 
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When will Apple finally admit that they can't deliver on the AI promise they made last year? We're now almost six months past 18 first being available, and hardly any of the features they touted are actually integrated.

They took the Cities Skylines 2 approach with this os version: we'll deliver what we promised once we actually figure out how to do it.
 
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DanteHicks79 said:
When will Apple finally admit that they can't deliver on the AI promise they made last year? We're now almost six months past 18 first being available, and hardly any of the features they touted are actually integrated.

They took the Cities Skylines 2 approach with this os version: we'll deliver what we promised once we actually figure out how to do it.
Click to expand...
Agreed, they should remove the whole ai feature altogether. I personally believe this is what messed up my se 3rd generation phone. Even though it doesnt get those features. It messed up my icloud for no reason. The icloud doubled in size for no reason. I keep reporting it on the feedback page. It also messed up my texts where when I manually delete texts theyre suppose to delete on the server end. And its not doing that. Apple says it takes up to 4 days to delete on the server end but so far nothing
 
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We’ve gone from annual iOS updates to monthly updates. By the time iOS 18 is finished iOS 19 will be out and we’ll all go through the same merry-go-round for another year. It seems pointless to continue with the annual WWDC iOS announcement.
 
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Aeronauts said:
We’ve gone from annual iOS updates to monthly updates. By the time iOS 18 is finished iOS 19 will be out and we’ll all go through the same merry-go-round for another year. It seems pointless to continue with the annual WWDC iOS announcement.
Click to expand...
Pretty much. All the major iOS 19 features will likely have an asterisk next to it saying “Coming in Spring 2026.” Lol.
 
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Aeronauts said:
We’ve gone from annual iOS updates to monthly updates. By the time iOS 18 is finished iOS 19 will be out and we’ll all go through the same merry-go-round for another year. It seems pointless to continue with the annual WWDC iOS announcement.
Click to expand...
I prefer that. I prefer to have new feature once they are available than wait 6 months to be included in a major release.
 
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Dark_Omen said:
IOS needs more advanced AI features. That’s all that matters right now. Not new emojis. Not Genmoji or image playground. Nobody cares about that stuff, unless you’re eight years old.

I should be able to open an “Apple Intelligence” app on my phone, type to it, speak to it, and it should be able to cross reference commands and questions through multiple apps at the same time. It should be able to translate voice calls and texts in real time. It should be able to translate and draft notes better than it does.

At this point, how can something already be so behind, yet, it’s brand new.
Click to expand...
Let's not tell other people what they should and shouldn't like.

More advanced would be nice, for sure but it's a solid start I guess.
 
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Reactions: Dark_Omen
Small changes. Privacy indicator dot visibility is better now. As for the recipes, would have liked it to be made available everywhere not to tie it to News+ with severe limited availability. If Apple can have apps like the new Invite app, then definitely they could have launched a separate Recipe's app.
 
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MacRumors said:


Privacy Indication Dots

The small dots that show up on the iPhone's menu bar when the camera or microphone is in use have been moved to the left and are now more apparent thanks to a black background.

new-siri-indicator-dot-ios-18-4.jpg




Photos

In the Photos app, there are now options to filter your library by images that were shared with you by others or by those that are not included in an album, which is useful for separating out content that you've organized into albums.

photos-filters-ios-18-4.jpg

Apple also added an option to view your album list by key photo.

In the Photos Settings, there is a new Show Recently Viewed & Shared toggle that will show or hide the Recently Viewed and Recently Shared albums from the Utilities list.
Click to expand...

Dots to the right you mean. Get an editor.

FFS Apple. Let me sync my smart albums.
 
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