iOS 26.4 is currently in beta testing with developers and public beta users. The update adds a range of new features to iPhone, including upgrades to Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, Messages, and more.
Here are all of the new iPhone features in iOS 26.4, plus everything else you need to know.
iOS 26.4 details
iOS 26.4 is available in beta right now for developers and public beta users. The latest iOS 26.4 beta 3 is the latest release, with a new build expected soon.
iSO 26.4 is expected to be released to everyone sometime at the end of March or in early April, as my colleague Ryan noted earlier. For example, iOS 18.4 was released on March 31.
iOS 26.4: New features
Apple Music
Apple Music is a big focus of iOS 26.4, adding multiple new features and design changes:
- Concerts: The ability to find concerts near you and tour dates for artists in your Apple Music Library.
- New full-screen artwork that “brings your music to life” for albums and playlists.
- A redesigned “Profile” section with easier access to managing your account, subscriptions, and more.
- Support for adding a song to more than one playlist at a time.
Playlist Playground
Also in Apple Music, iOS 26.4 adds a new Playlist Playground feature. This lets you create playlists using Apple Intelligence by simply providing text descriptions. For instance, you can type something like “sad songs from the 1990s for a rainy day” and Apple Music will automatically create a playlist based on that prompt.
Once Playlist Playground generates a playlist, you can then iterate on it with further prompts without starting the process over.
This feature is still in beta, so it’s not perfect. Still, it’s an example of how Apple is integrating Apple Intelligence throughout the iPhone experience.
Read more: iOS 26.4 beta adds new ‘Playlist Playground’ AI feature for Apple Music
New widgets
iOS 26.4 adds a new collection of Ambient Music widgets that you can add to your iPhone’s Home Screen. This lets you convientnely start playing music for one of four moods:
- Chill
- Productivity
- Sleep
- Wellbeing
The widget is available in small and medium sizes.
Reminders app
In iOS 26.2, Apple added a new “Urgent” designation for tasks in the Reminders app. When you mark a task as generate, the Reminders app will also set an alarm to remind you of it.
iOS 26.4 builds on this by adding a new Smart List outlining all of the tasks you’ve designated as urgent.
RCS encryption in Messages
Last March, Apple announced its plans to add support for end-to-end encryption for RCS messages.
iOS 26.4 adds support for testing this feature. Once updated to iOS 26.4 beta 2, iPhone users can go to Settings > Messages > RCS Messaging and look for the new “End-to-End Encryption (Beta)” toggle — which should be enabled by default.
Additionally, when you message someone with RCS encryption enabled, you’ll see a new lock icon in the chat thread. That icon will also appear on iMessage threads, as iMessage has supported encryption since 2011.
Apple, however, says that RCS end-to-end encryption will not actually ship as part of iOS 26.4. Instead, it’s included in this beta for testing purposes and Apple says it will be available in a future iOS 26 update.
Apple Podcasts
iOS 26.4 brings a big update to the Apple Podcasts with new “advanced video podcast capabilities.”
This refresh simplifies switching between viewing a video podcast and listening to the audio podcast. The features are powered by Apple’s HLS technology, enabling automatic quality adjustment based on network conditions.
Apple is also adding support for dynamic video ads in Apple Podcasts with iOS 26.4.
Read more: Apple Podcasts app gaining ‘enhanced video podcast experience’ in iOS 26.4
Apple Health
iOS 26.4 adds more Sleep and Vitals data to the Apple Health app. There is a new average bedtime metric, which lets you track your average bedtime along with last night’s bedtime for comparison.
Blood Oxygen readings have also been added back to the Vitals graph. This comes after Apple launched a “redesigned” version of the feature last August amid an ongoing patent dispute.
Read more: iOS 26.4 adds more Sleep and Vitals data to Apple Health
Stolen Device Protection
Stolen Device Protection is now enabled by default in iOS 26.4. When this feature is enabled, you’ll need to authenticate with Face ID to perform certain tasks when away from trusted places like home and work. It also includes a time delay for a second biometric authentication for certain sensitive actions.
Prior to iOS 26.4, Stolen Device Protection had to be enabled manually by iPhone users.
More iOS 26.4 features and changes
- In the App Store and the Games apps, Apple has moved the Search bar back to the top of the Search tab. The tab is also now integrated into navigation bar at the bottom instead of being separated in its own floating circle.
- The Wallpaper Gallery has been redesigned in iOS 26.4 with more separation between the different categories of available options.
- The Apple Watch face gallery has been redesigned with more separation between the different options.
- iOS 26.4 adds a new “Reduce Highlighting Effects” in the Accessibility menu of Settings. This toggle should reduce the lighting effects around the edges of buttons, sliders, and app icons, but it’s not fully-functional yet.
- When your iPhone is in Dark Mode, menu popups in Control Center will also now show with a dark background.
- Freeform Creator Studio is now live for subscribers.
- iOS 26.4 adds a new iCloud setting lets users enable a setting that lets them search for Photos and iCloud Drive content on iCloud.com.
iOS 26.4 wrap up
Apple will likely make more changes to iOS 26.4 as beta testing continues. In the meantime, what’s your favorite change? What do you think of the new features in Apple Music? Let us know down in the comments.
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