The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhone needs to be close by, and we expect the update to include many new features and changes.
Bloomberg’s Mark Garman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week.
Below we’ll outline what you’ll expect from iOS 18.4 so far.
Siri’s Apple Intelligence
Siri is expected to gain some enhancements with Apple Intelligence on iOS 18.4. These upgrades include on-screen perception, deeper per-app controls, and understanding the user’s personal context.
Apple Intelligence requires an iPhone 15 Pro model or iPhone 16 model.
Apple Intelligence in more languages
Apple previously announced that with a software update coming in April, Apple Intelligence will be available in more languages, which probably refers to iOS 18.4. Additional languages include English (India), English (Singapore), Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Vietnamese, but Apple has included these He said only a portion of the language will be added in April. It will continue throughout 2025.
Apple Intelligence is currently available in localized English in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Improved news overview
Inaccurate Apple Intelligence Notification Summary ExampleThe Apple Intelligence notification summary in the news app is temporarily unavailable in iOS 18.3 after the feature incorrectly summarises some news articles.
Apple has promised that the notification summary improvements will be in future software updates, so we will see if that happens with iOS 18.4.
Starting with iOS 18.3, the summary notifications have italicized text, which stands out visually compared to regular notifications. However, we hope that future software updates will actually make the news summary more accurate.
New Emoji
iOS 15.4, iOS 16.4, and iOS 17.4 all introduced new emojis, so trends could continue in iOS 18.4.
Last year, Unicode Consortium previewed a new emoji that was supposed to have iOS 18.4. There were new options including a face with a bag under the eyes, a leafless tree, root vegetables, harp, shovels, splatters and more.
EU default maps and translation apps
In an October 2024 document relating to the EU’s Digital Markets Act, Apple revealed that EU iPhone and iPad users will be able to set default navigation and translation apps starting in “Spring 2025.” That timing could probably match iOS 18.4.
For example, users should be able to select Google Maps, Waze, or other options as their default navigation app, rather than Apple Maps. Similarly, you should be able to choose Google Translate, Microsoft Translator, or other options as your default translation app, rather than Apple’s translation app. These options will be added to the new “Default Apps” section of the iPhone Settings app implemented in iOS 18.2.
Robot Vacuum Support in Home App
Apple’s website states that an unspecified iOS 18 update will add vacuum support for robots to the home app. If available, this feature allows you to control the critical features of the robot vacuum in your home app.
Here’s how Apple explains the feature:
The Home app now supports the core features of the robot vacuum cleaner, including power control, cleaning mode, vacuum, MOP, and charging status. You can also participate in automation and scenes and respond to SIRI requests. So you can add it to your cleaning routine or tell Siri to do spot cleaning in your living room.
There was a reference to the feature added to the iOS 18.3 code, but the feature was not published with that update, so it probably comes with iOS 18.4.
