iOS 18.4 beta 1 does not add visual intelligence to iPhone 15 Pro
Right now, by going to Settings > App > Default apps, U.S. iPhone users can choose the default apps they want for email, messaging, calling, call filtering, browser, password, and contactless apps. Again, once the final version of iOS 18.4 is available, U.S. iPhone users will be able to replace Apple Translate with Google Translate.
The Illustration style makes the requested image appear as though it had just come out of a book. For example, with the Illustration option, our Traffic Light looks as though it was drawn for a published book for children. Note the more accurate perspective. The Sketch option shows a traffic light that might have been “sketched” using colored pencils.
With iOS 18.4 beta 1, Priority Notifications will show you your most important notifications on your lock screen first. To enable this feature in iOS 18.4 beta 1, go to Settings > Notifications > Prioritize Notifications and toggle it on. The update also adds an Ambient Music option that you can add to the Control Center. There are four different sound categories: Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing. You can add each one to the Control Center individually.
New Apple Intelligence capabilities for Siri did not appear
You can’t choose the song playing from this feature but if you play a song from one of the categories and tap the Dynamic Island, you can see the title of what is currently playing and skip songs. Another new feature in the beta moves the small privacy dots that appear when your phone’s camera or microphone is in use and they show up better against a black background.
When using the Emoji keyboard with the beta installed, the Genmoji icon now has the Genmoji name added to it making it easier for users to understand where they should type the description of the custom emoji they want. Tap the icon with your initials in the Podcast app and you will see that there are new options for Podcast Settings and Notification Settings. And in the Control Center, the Cellular Data box now shows your signal strength in real-time.
While I received a prompt for a Siri update, it doesn’t appear that iOS 18.4 beta 1 makes any changes to Siri related to the new features we were hoping for, such as allowing Siri to understand what is on your display and having Siri comb through your email and messages to obtain personal data needed to respond to a query you’ve asked.
