Friday March 20, 2026 2:44 pm PDT by Juli Clover
iOS 26.4 isn't the major update with new Siri features that we hoped for, but there are some useful quality of life improvements, and a little bit of fun with an AI playlist generator and new emoji characters.
- Playlist Playground - Apple Music has a Playlist Playground option that lets you generate playlists from text-based descriptions. You can include moods, feelings, activities, or make up something entirely nonsensical and let the AI figure out what you mean.
- Ambient Music widget - Apple added a widget for the built-in Ambient Music feature in iOS, so it's quicker to play background sounds. You can choose Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing playlists curated by Apple.
- Emoji - There are eight new emoji characters including trombone, treasure chest, distorted face, hairy creature, fight cloud, orca, landslide, and ballet dancer.
- Reduce Bright Effects - If you dislike Liquid Glass, there's a Reduce Bright Effects setting that cuts down on bright flashes when tapping buttons. Reduce Motion also limits Liquid Glass animations more than it did previously.
- Keyboard Fix - iOS 26.4 fixes an iOS 26 keyboard bug that caused typos when typing quickly.
- Purchase Sharing - Adults in Family Sharing groups no longer have to use the same payment method, and Apple now lets everyone add their own credit or debit card.
- CarPlay AI apps - CarPlay users can use third-party chatbots with CarPlay starting in iOS 26.4. Companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google will need to update their apps with CarPlay support, but the framework is in iOS 26.4.
- Video Podcasts - The Podcasts app has native video episode support with HLS streaming, along with options to swap between audio and video and offline video downloads.
- Average Bedtime - The Sleep feature in the Health app now records average bedtime for the past two weeks to give you a better idea of how your bedtime impacts sleep.
- Stolen Device Protection - Stolen Device Protection is now on by default. It thwarts physical theft and access of your iPhone by requiring biometric authentication for things like viewing passwords and turning off Lost Mode on the iPhone. Some features like changing an Apple ID password have a one-hour security delay.
There are other new additions in iOS 26.4, like offline song recognition in Control Center, nearby concert suggestions and full-page album artwork in Apple Music, easier access to subtitle customization options in media apps, and Apple Creator Studio support for Freeform, with details available in our full iOS 26.4 notes article.
Release Date
The iOS 26.4 release candidate is available to developers and public beta testers, and it's likely the update will see an official launch on March 23 or March 24.
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