Everything New in iOS 18.4 Beta 1

[MacRumors]

Apple finally released the first beta of iOS 18.4 to developers for testing purposes, and while the beta is lacking some of the Apple Intelligence features we were hoping for, there are some notable new additions.

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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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Mail Categorization for iPadOS 18.4

With iPadOS 18.4, an updated Mail app is available with categorization. The new Mail app organizes incoming emails into different sections. Important emails are displayed in the Primary category, with other emails organized into sections highlighting product orders, newsletters, deals, and social notifications.

Mail categorization was previously introduced for the iPhone in iOS 18.2.

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.

Siri Voices

There are two new Australian voices for Siri.

Genmoji

The Genmoji icon for the Emoji keyboard now says "Genmoji" instead of just featuring a multi-colored smiley face. The change should make it more obvious where users go to create a Genmoji character.

Apple Maps

In the Apple Maps Settings, there is a new option to set a Preferred Language.

Podcasts Widget

There are new Library and Shows widgets that can be added to the Home Screen on an iPhone or iPad. The Library widget features saved content, while the Shows option displays shows that you are subscribed to.

In the Podcasts app, if you tap on your profile picture, there are new options for Podcasts Settings and Notification Settings.

Cellular Control Center Toggle

The Cellular toggle in the Control Center now shows your cellular signal strength represented in bars.

Shortcuts Actions

Apple added a new Shortcuts action to open a specific conversation in the Messages app.

CarPlay

Some CarPlay users are seeing a third row of CarPlay icons on the Home Screen rather than just two rows.

Image via the MacRumors Forums​

Default Apps

There is a new option to set a different Translation app as the default in the Default Apps section of the Settings app. In the EU, there... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: Everything New in iOS 18.4 Beta 1

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

Is wi-fi calling working ok in the UK (EE)

 

[Anonymous123]

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

I think you mean moved to the right? Previously it was inside the Dynamic Island.

 

[GregJohn]

Join the 18.5 beta gang for the Siri updates and visual intelligence for iPhone 15 pros 💀

(Hoping they figure it out before then obviously- beta 2/3)

 

[fwmireault]

New Apple Intelligence Languages

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

What are the steps to set up those languages? I’ve tried a few of them but I see that Apple intelligence features are disabled.

Edit: never mind it only took a minute to enable again.

 

[JohnApples]

I think you mean moved to the right? Previously it was inside the Dynamic Island.

There was a glitch (at least, it looked like a glitch) where in some instances on Dynamic Island phones, the privacy dots would appear allllll the way to the right, touching the top right border of the screen.

One way to see it for yourself is to start a Voice Memo recording, then return to the Home Screen. The orange dot will appear all the way to the right, appearing as if it’s partially cut off.

 

[BlankStar]

Also new: it works in the EU. Obviously only in the supported languages.

 

[Kylo83]

Very underwhelming update, I guess the whole Apple team are to being working on Apple intelligence and Siri updates

 

[kalafalas]

I think you mean moved to the right? Previously it was inside the Dynamic Island.

This change makes me think a smaller cutout is coming in the 17 pro series, one without dead space between the camera and faceid

 

[mxrider88]

There was a glitch (at least, it looked like a glitch) where in some instances on Dynamic Island phones, the privacy dots would appear allllll the way to the right, touching the top right border of the screen.

One way to see it for yourself is to start a Voice Memo recording, then return to the Home Screen. The orange dot will appear all the way to the right, appearing as if it’s partially cut off.

Yep, been there for years.
Apple employees clearly use android at home. I can’t otherwise explain how this wasn’t fixed after 25 minutes.

 

[Dr McKay]

CarPlay

Some CarPlay users are seeing a third row of CarPlay icons on the Home Screen rather than just two rows.

That would be nice, I test drove a car the other week that had a 15 inch touchscreen on it, when I connected via CarPlay it was the exact same interface as my existing cars 6.5inch screen, everything seemed huge and it seemed like a colossal waste of screen real estate.

 

[MrGimper]

Is wi-fi calling working ok in the UK (EE)

Keen to get confirmation of this too please

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Priority notifications are good. I hate how easily things get buried in the notification center with all notifications treated equal.

 

[thefrost]

Well that's plenty of things isn't it? /s

 

[dallardice]

Looks like Apple News Food might be US only? Not seeing it in the UK. There is a general "translation" issue with recipes, given that the US tends to use cup measurements whereas most of Europe uses metric measurements. Nevertheless, given that Apple News Games is also US-only, it's a shame that some of this additional paid-for functionality is limited to the US.

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

Keen to get confirmation of this too please

Yh I need wi-fi calling when at home so waiting until confirmed

 

[miq]

Forget this ‘AI Notification’ rubbish, just let me receive a maximum of ONE notification per app until I view/action it. Like Android has allowed for countless years now. It’s not that difficult!

 

[@Brett]

I would really like the Find My app in CarPlay. Think it would be handy. Especially if tracking lost stuff on the move.

 

[miiwtoo]

what about automations with AI (maybe with shortcuts), but away we need a real shortcuts on apple watch,

 

[Trausner]

Wouldnt it be nice if something like the Vision Pro app would also be available for iPhone to create a guest mode on iPad?

 

[sleeptodream]

Two new Australian voices for Siri? That’s all I needed to know. Sign me up.

 

[Trausner]

Two new Australian voices for Siri? That’s all I needed to know. Sign me up.

Can i have my Siri sound like Russell Crow? He is almost Australian, right?

 

[Ad1361]

I just updated but I don’t see the “Prioritize Notifications option. I’m in the US on an iPhone 15pro max.

 

[Dr McKay]

I just updated but I don’t see the “Prioritize Notifications option. I’m in the US on an iPhone 15pro max.

Give it a little time apparently it has to download extra stuff to Apple Intelligence

 

[Ad1361]

Give it a little time apparently it has to download extra stuff to Apple Intelligence

Yeah Image playground is doing the same. Worked first try on my iPad though.