iOS 26.4 is here with some handy upgrades for your iPhone here are the 5
best new features

Date:
Wed, 25 Mar 2026 15:23:00 +0000

Description:
The iOS 26.4 update is now available. Here are 5 of the biggest new features it contains.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from
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successful An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Apples 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 youll 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 youre wondering what the most important new changes are, weve 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 (Image credit: Future) 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, its only available in the United States. Article continues below You may like iOS 26.4 will bring these 5 upgrades to your iPhone, but not the new Siri The 5 biggest rumored iOS 27 upgrades coming to your iPhone iOS 26.4 could fix the iPhone's broken autocorrect, but one problem remains 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 (Image
credit: Future) 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. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. 3. CarPlay upgrades CarPlay is Apples in-car infotainment system, and its 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 (youll 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. What to read next iOS 27 could fix your iPhone's battery life but here are 7 tips to try now Apple Music has a slew of new features on the way, including a revamped UI iOS 26.3 update just made it a lot easier to switch to Android here's how

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 isnt in motion). This feature isnt available right now, though. 4. Stolen Device Protection (Image credit: Future) 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 cant 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 (Image credit: Future) Your iPhone provides a lot of tools for measuring and understanding your wellbeing, and theyve been expanded upon
with the arrival of iOS 26.4. Most of these changes can be found in Apples 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. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us
as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

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