Apple Confirms iOS 18.4 Launch in April – What’s New?

Apple has officially announced that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, bringing a host of exciting new features to iPhone users. The update promises to introduce tools that enhance convenience, creativity, and entertainment. Here’s a closer look at what’s coming with iOS 18.4.

Priority Notifications

A standout feature of iOS 18.4 is Priority Notifications, powered by Apple Intelligence. This feature identifies and highlights your most important notifications directly on the Lock Screen, making sure you never miss what matters most. You can enable this by going to:

Settings → Notifications → Prioritize Notifications.

Note: This feature is compatible with iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPhone 16 models.

Apple News+ Food

Apple News+ subscribers are in for a treat — literally! With iOS 18.4, Apple is launching a new Food section within the Apple News app. This section gives users access to tens of thousands of recipes and food stories at no extra cost.

What to expect:

• Curated food stories from Apple News editors.
• A searchable Recipe Catalog with daily updates.
• A beautifully designed recipe format for easy ingredient reviews and step-by-step cook mode.
• Offline access to saved recipes.

Apple News+ is available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K. The service costs $12.99/month or is included in the Apple One Premier bundle for $37.95/month.

Ambient Music

A new Ambient Music feature is now available in the Control Center. Choose from four categories: Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing, and enjoy curated playlists to suit your mood.

Expanded Apple Intelligence Features

With iOS 18.4, Apple Intelligence now supports more languages, including French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified), English (Singapore), and English (India).

Image Playground Updates

Apple’s Image Playground gets a new “Sketch” drawing style, adding to the existing “Animation” and “Illustration” styles. This feature allows you to generate unique visuals from text prompts, powered by Apple Intelligence.

Default Apps and CarPlay Improvements

• Users in the EU can now set a default maps app like Google Maps.
• Default translation apps are now available worldwide.
• For vehicles with large dashboard displays, CarPlay will feature an extra row of app icons, optimizing the layout.

Coming Features: Vision Pro App and New Emoji

While not included in the first beta, iOS 18.4 will also introduce a dedicated Vision Pro app for iPhones. This app allows Vision Pro users to quickly download apps and games, explore Apple TV content, and access handy Vision Pro tips. It will become available when the full release rolls out in April.

Additionally, iOS 18.4 will bring a fresh batch of emoji, including exciting options like a face with bags under eyes, a fingerprint, a harp, a shovel, and more.

Stay tuned for even more updates and features as we approach the official release of iOS 18.4!