Apple today seeded the second release candidates of its upcoming iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 updates to developers for testing. The new release candidates come just a few days following the first Release Candidates.
iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 can be downloaded by developers on a compatible device by going to the Settings app and tapping “General” -> “Software Update“.
The iOS 18.4 RC release notes are as follows:
Apple Intelligence (All iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max)
- Priority notifications appear at the top of your notifications, highlighting important notifications that may require your immediate attention
- Sketch is now available as an additional style option in Image Playground, allowing you to create gorgeous sketch drawings
- Apple Intelligence features support 8 additional languages and 2 additional English locales, including English (India, Singapore), French (France, Canada), German (Germany), Italian (Italy), Japanese (Japan), Korean (South Korea), Portuguese (Brazil), Simplified Chinese, and Spanish (Spain, Latin America, US)
Apple Vision Pro App
- The new Apple Vision Pro app, automatically installed for users with Apple Vision Pro, helps you discover new content, spatial experiences, and quickly access information about your device
Apple News+
- Recipes from some of the world’s best recipe publishers are now available on Apple News+
- Recipe Catalog allows you to browse or search to find the perfect dish and save it to your Saved Recipes
- Cooking mode lets you easily follow step-by-step directions
- The Food section also includes stories about restaurants, kitchen tips, healthy eating, and more
Photos
- New filters to show or hide items that are not contained in an album, or synced from a Mac or PC, in the Library view in Photos
- Reorder items in the Media Types and Utilities collections in Photos
- Consistent filtering options in all collections, including the ability to sort by oldest or newest first in Photos
- Option to sort albums by Date Modified in Photos
- Ability to disable “Recently Viewed” and “Recently Shared” collections in Photos Settings
- Hidden photos are no longer included for import to Mac or a PC if Use Face ID is enabled in Photos settings
This update also includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:
- Safari recent search suggestions help you quickly get back to previous search topics when starting a new query
- Setup Assistant streamlines steps parents need to take to create a Child Account for a kid in their family, and enables child-appropriate default settings if parents prefer to complete setting up a Child Account later
- Screen Time App Limits persist even after a child uninstalls and reinstalls an app
- App Store includes summaries for user reviews so you can get helpful insights from other users at a glance
- Pause and resume of an app download or update on App Store without losing progress
- New widgets for Podcasts including a Followed Shows widget to track your favorite shows and a Library widget to get to your most used sections, such as Latest Episodes, Saved, and Downloaded
- Ambient Music offers the ability to instantly play music from Control Center, giving access to a set of hand-curated playlists that offer soundtracks for daily life
- Apple Fitness+ Collections can now be added to Library
- Matter-compatible robot vacuum cleaners can be controlled in the Home app as well as be added to scenes and automations
- Support for 10 new system languages including Bangla, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu
iOS 18.4 brings the Priority Notifications Apple Intelligence feature, which is designed to determine which of your notifications are the most important, highlighting them in an easy-to-see dedicated section on the Lock Screen.
Visual Intelligence is now available for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max in the new beta. Those two devices that did not previously support the feature.
A new selection of new emoji characters, including bags under eyes, fingerprint, leafless tree, root vegetable, harp, shovel, and splatter, also make an appearance in the new betas.
A new Apple News+ Food section in Apple News+ is also available. The Sketch style is now available in Image Playground allowing users to generate images that look hand drawn. Apple Intelligence is also available in more languages, including French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (simplified), along with localized English for Singapore and India.
The iOS 18.4 beta includes a dedicated Apple Vision Pro, which will be available on your iPhone if you have a Vision Pro headset connected to your Apple Account. The app can also be downloaded from the App Store if you do not have a Vision Pro.
The Vision Pro app is designed to aid users in finding content, get assistance, and learn about new Vision Pro features. The includes tools for adding content to the Apple TV app to watch later, downloading apps remotely, and more.
Mail Categorization has expanded to the iPad, and a new Ambient Music feature allows users to play relaxing music from Control Center.
Apple is expected to release iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in early April, possibly as soon as next week.
As usual, MacTrast and Apple both warn users to not install any betas or release candidates on their daily driver iPhone or iPad. Instead, you should only install betas on a device set aside for testing purposes.
