Everything New in iOS 16.4 Beta 2: Apple Books Changes, Apple Music Classical Mentions, Apple Pay in South Korea and More

[dwaite]

My guess is that 16.5 will have Apple Music Classical app added which will complete the next beta cycle before WWDC in June. While it’s possible it could be included in an upcoming 16.4 beta 3 or later, as that would mean there will be many more betas that 16.4 consists of before it wraps up some time in April.

Typically this release would be end of March alongside new products (often iPads) and services.

The March release was historically oriented so that Apple has products in channel in time for schools to be able to evaluate them for purchase in the Fall. Apple treats schools and businesses as having overlapping needs in terms of managed machines, so you sometimes see enterprise features land in March as well.

Since software devs often support 1-2 versions back, and desktop Mac users also tend to lag, it is also a chance to get in "non-breaking" additions to APIs for devs to adopt. Those devs are not going to jump onto requiring the latest OS when it launches in the fall, so pushing features into the March release gives devs the ability to adopt them sooner.

After March, Apple devs will have their hands full trying to get things finished and stable for the fall OS releases. Services is a bit of a wildcard and Apple Music is an oddball app, so it is certainly possible they could launch Classical at some other point in time - but I suspect they are targeting this upcoming release.

 

[Isamilis]

Apple today released the second beta of iOS 16.4 to developers, and while not as feature rich as the first beta, there are a couple notable additions in beta two worth knowing about.

Apple Books Page Turning Animation

With the launch of iOS 16, Apple tweaked Apple Books to eliminate the traditional page turning animation that had been used since the early days of the app, a move that upset some Apple Books users.

The second iOS 16.4 beta reintroduces the page turning animation as an option, which is a welcome change for the Apple Books readers who missed it. In the Themes and Settings section of the Books app, there are now three options for page turning: Curl, Side, and None.

Slide is the ‌iOS 16‌ default, Curl is the old iOS 15 and earlier animation, and None is an even simpler animation that just shifts from page to page with little fanfare. These features are also available in iPadOS 16.4 for those who read on the iPad.

Apple Music Classical Code

Code in the iOS 16.4 beta confirms Apple's continued work on the Apple Music Classical app, and suggests that it could be launching in the not too distant future.

Code in the beta suggests that listening to Apple Music Classical will require users to have the standard Apple Music app installed. "To listen in Apple Music Classical, you'll need to install Apple Music," reads a line in the MusicKit framework.

As of right now, there is no sign of an Apple Music Classical app in iOS 16.4, but that doesn't mean that it won't come in a later beta or with the iOS 16.4 launch. It could also be delayed until a later update or even iOS 17, as this is not the first iOS 16 update that has had Apple Music Classical references.

Apple Pay in South Korea

Code in iOS 16.4 confirms that users in South Korea will be able to add credit and debit cards to the Wallet app for use with Apple Pay, suggesting iOS 16.4 will add Apple Pay in the country.

That is in line with reports from early February that indicated South Korea's Financial Services Commission has approved Apple Pay. Apple has been working to bring Apple Pay to South Korea since 2017.

Apple Care Device Coverage

Under Settings > General > About where Apple has a "Coverage" section that lists your Apple devices with AppleCare+, all listed products now have an icon next to them. This section includes your iPhone and connected peripherals like Apple Watch and AirPods.

The section was present in beta one, but the icons are new.

Podcasts Splash Screen

There's a new splash screen in the Podcasts app in beta 2, which explains the new changes.

The Podcasts app now supports channels in Library, expanded CarPlay functionality, and an improved Up Next feature that lets you resume episodes and skip what you don't want to listen to.

Always On Display Settings

Apple made some minor tweaks to the Always On Display section in the Settings app on iPhone 14 Pro models. The toggle to turn off Always On Display is now listed under the toggles for showing wallpaper and notifications, rather than above.

More Features

Know of something that we left out in this list? Let us know in the comments below.

Article Link: Everything New in iOS 16.4 Beta 2: Apple Books Changes, Apple Music Classical Mentions, Apple Pay in South Korea and More

Just curious. Why is the page turning animation is so important for some users? Isn’t it just the UI, which also slow down page movement (which means, it consumes more battery and need time a bit longer)?

 

[MrJM]

Wow, I totally forgot that books was a thing! Just loaded mine up and found the manual for the OG iPad.

 

[Matheus Dilon]

The update iOS 16.4, following post of MacMagazine, always brings 5G Stand Alone (SA) for iPhone users in Brazil. Even the government already tried to persuaded Apple to implement this feature last September by a personal visit to Apple headquarters, but nothing happened since. Now MacMagazine has some prints to prove Apple is working on fixing it for us Brazilians.

 

[k27]

Is it now possible to open moved files in Finder on a SMB share?

files-moved-are-not-found-smb.107554

 

[wanha]

Wow, after 6 long years Apple Pay is finally making it to Samsung’s homeland. Nice one, Tim 👏

Sounds like you have the inside scoop on why it took so long?

 

[Account25476]

It seems more like a 16.3.2 update than a 16.4 update.

 

[nullsleep]

I'm so glad that Apple listens to their users and decided to bring back the page turning animation. Can't wait.

 

[nullsleep]

is there someone who actually uses iBooks? Remember Steve Jobs fed us that BS that iBooks was a pillar to apple ?

I use it a lot. It's great.

 

[fullfast]

Did notice this morning that "Battery Optimised Charging" had been magically switched on after the update, meaning phone only charged to 80%

As I don't keep the phone longer than a year it is no concern of mine , prefer to have a full battery at the start of the day

 

[sorgo †]

Sounds like you have the inside scoop on why it took so long?

No I do not unfortunately… just piecing it together, or trying

 

[Account25476]

It seems more like a 16.3.2 update than a 16.4 update.

For those that disagree to my message, what's the big feature of this update?

 

[jdclifford]

I’m surprised that Apple got rid of the animation for page turning. I remember when Steve Jobs showed it on the iPad, it was such a simple animation but was so impressive. Same thing when he showed the animation of the dock, getting bigger when the mouse hovered over it, or when he showed the first iPhone slide to unlock. So simple, but the audience went crazy over it.

If by “the dock getting bigger" u are referring to the “magnification” setting, it’s still there under settings>desktop and dock.

 

[sorgo †]

For those that disagree to my message, what's the big feature of this update?

The build letter has changed which indicates a new point release version. Don’t really matter what you or I think of it, that’s just how it works

 

[RigSatMe]

Best feature is new emoji: Goose
😂

 

[Tozovac]

This update will push me to open up Apple Books 📖 and start turning pages 😍

Yep. Finally somebody at Apple is remembering that a satisfying-to-use interface is more than just the least pixels possible.

Hopefully they’ll next remember that the entire screen does not need to be all white or all dark.

 

[andyorkney]

is there someone who actually uses iBooks? Remember Steve Jobs fed us that BS that iBooks was a pillar to apple ?

I use books all the time but as repository for PDFs, manuals, cook books etc, don’t buy many items from the store though

 

[8CoreWhore]

How many years does it take to make this Classical app?

 

[philstubbington]

I did wonder what happened to the page turning animation. I thought I’d dreamt it, or it was in the K****e app 😱.

It was a nice touch - but not as nice as buying a physical book, IMO. I keep ebooks for work not for enjoyment.

 

[Born Again]

I use it a lot. It's great.

Do you know your local library will provide ebooks ?

 

[David Hensley]

The new page turning options don’t appear to work consistently. Yet. I am unable to get Curl to work on PDFs in my library.

 

[gaximus]

If by “the dock getting bigger" u are referring to the “magnification” setting, it’s still there under settings>desktop and dock.

Yep, I didn't mean to imply that it was gone, just that it was pretty amazing when they released it in 2000. The crowd went crazy of that simple animation.

 

[Jaisah]

Wow, after 6 long years Apple Pay is finally making it to Samsung’s homeland. Nice one, Tim 👏

Did you know that Cortana for Windows STILL isn't available in New Zealand? What a joke 🤣

 

[akac]

New feature: Apple Card in wallet now lets you filter transactions. At least I don’t remember ever seeing it before.

 

[davidh2k]

When books get their animation back, can we also get the iOS 15 Style Notifications back? Completely or at least give us an option to disable the Stacked/"Rolodex" like animation when explicity using List view, please?