- Apple’s iOS 26.4 update has been released to the public
- It comes with a range of important new features
- Here are five of the most significant upgrades you’ll find
Apple has just released the iOS 26.4 update for all the best iPhones, and it comes loaded with fresh features and security improvements, from new shortcuts to keyboard bug fixes. And there are even bigger changes afoot. If you’re wondering what the most important new changes are, we’ve rounded up the five best upgrades below.
If you want to install iOS 26.4, all you need to do is open the Settings app on your iPhone, then navigate to General > Software Update. Wait for iOS 26.4 to appear, then tap Update Now. Make sure you back up your iPhone before you start in case anything goes wrong.
1. Apple Music additions
Apple Music is one of the best music streaming services around, and playlist curation and creation has always been one of its strong points. With iOS 26.4, Apple has added a new tool called Playlist Playground that should help refine this further. Note that for now, it’s only available in the United States.
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With Playlist Playground, Apple Music subscribers can now create a playlist with just an AI-based text prompt. Apple has a few examples of prompts you can use, including “morning coffee music” and “disco songs that define the 1970s.” Apple Music then takes your idea and uses artificial intelligence to generate a 25-song playlist and custom title to go along with it. You can add cover art and a description, then adjust your playlist with additional text prompts.
Aside from Playlist Playground, Apple Music has gained a new Concerts Near You feature. As the name suggests, this highlights tour dates and shows for your favorite artists that are happening in your local area. Albums and playlists have also been tuned up with full-screen artwork, while you can now add songs to multiple playlists at the same time.
2. New emojis
Apple often adds new emojis with its iOS updates, and iOS 26.4 is no different. This time, Apple fans will get eight new characters to use, including a ballet dancer, a distorted face, a fight cloud, a sasquatch, a landslide, an orca, a treasure chest and a trombone.
As well as that, Apple has added skin tone modifiers for emojis featuring people wrestling and dancers with bunny ears.
3. CarPlay upgrades
CarPlay is Apple’s in-car infotainment system, and it’s received a significant upgrade with iOS 26.4.
For one thing, AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini can now be called upon right within CarPlay, letting you ask questions hands-free with your voice. While these chatbots will not be able to control your car or iPhone functions (you’ll have to stick to Siri for that), they could still add some useful abilities to your vehicle.
You can also now add an Ambient Music widget to your CarPlay dashboard. This plays music from various themed playlists, including Chill, Productivity, Sleep and Wellbeing.
Aside from that, MacRumors claims to have found references to Apple TV support for CarPlay in the iOS 26.4 beta, which suggests that Apple TV users might be able to stream their favorite content to their vehicle in the future (providing the car isn’t in motion). This feature isn’t available right now, though.
4. Stolen Device Protection
Apple introduced Stolen Device Protection in iOS 17.3, and it adds extra protection when your device is away from familiar locations.
With it enabled, performing sensitive actions (such as changing your Apple Account password) requires biometric authentication to ensure thieves can’t lock you out of your account. Changing some features also involves an hour-long wait before proceeding.
Previously, Stolen Device Protection was not enabled by default. With iOS 26.4, though, Apple has changed that so that the feature is now automatically switched on for all users, strengthening your iPhone security in the process.
5. Health app
Your iPhone provides a lot of tools for measuring and understanding your wellbeing, and they’ve been expanded upon with the arrival of iOS 26.4. Most of these changes can be found in Apple’s Health app.
The latest update adds an Average Bedtime indicator in the Sleep section of the Health app, which measures your bedtimes over the past fortnight. The Vitals section has also been updated for US customers to include blood oxygen levels in a daily average graph.
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