Apple released the first public beta of iOS 18.4 on Feb. 24, more than a month after the company released iOS 18.3 to the public. While that update brought some important fixes to all iPhones, the latest beta brings a handful of new features to developers and public beta testers, like priority notifications.
Read more: An Expert’s Guide to iOS 18
Since this is a beta, I recommend only downloading it on something other than your primary device. Because this isn’t the final version of iOS 18.4, the update might be buggy and battery life may be short, so it’s best to keep those troubles on a secondary device.
Note that the beta isn’t the final version of iOS 18.4, so there could be more features to land on your iPhone when iOS 18.4 is released. Apple indicated in a news release sent to that iOS 18.4 will be released to the public in April, but there’s no word on an exact date.
Here’s what could land on your iPhone with iOS 18.4 soon. And just a reminder that only developers and beta testers who have an iPhone 15 Pro, Pro Max or the iPhone 16 lineup can access any Apple Intelligence features for now. If you have any other iPhone, you won’t have access to those features.
Priority Notifications with Apple Intelligence
Developers and beta testers with an Apple Intelligence-compatible iPhone will get a new feature called Priority Notifications with the iOS 18.4 beta.
“Apple Intelligence can show you notifications that may be important in a separate section on the Lock Screen, so you can catch up on what you may have missed,” Apple writes in the feature’s description. “You can still swipe up to view all notifications.”
Priority Notifications was off by default after I downloaded the update, but you can turn it on by going to Settings > Notifications > Prioritize Notifications and tapping the toggle next to Prioritize Notifications.
Sketch mode in Image Playground
Is the astronaut reaching into the painting? Where’s their left hand?
Image Playground is the Apple Intelligence image generator, and in the iOS 18.4 beta, Apple brings a new art style to the app called Sketch. The new art style creates a fully colored image that looks like a sketch you might see in someone’s notebook. But there are still plenty of imperfections in these photos.
Image Playground had two art styles before this update, one called Animation — which created 3D images — and the other called Illustration — which made cartoony images.
Ambient music in Control Center
If you like to have music playing in the background while you work, do chores or relax, you can now easily access ambient music in your iPhone’s Control Center with the iOS 18.4 beta.
To find these controls, swipe down on from the top-right corner of your screen to open your Control Center, tap the plus (+) sign in the top-left corner of your screen, tap Add a Control then you should see a new section of controls called Ambient Music. There are four ambient music options: Sleep, Chill, Productivity and Wellbeing. Tap one (or all) of these controls to add them to your Control Center. Once the controls are in your Control Center, tap a control and it will start playing music.
You can also change the playlist for each control. To do so, go into your Control Center, tap the plus (+) sign in the top-left corner of your screen, tap the ambient sound control you want to edit and then tap the playlist to the right of Playlist. If you’re in the Chill control, for example, the default playlist is Laidback Lo-Fi. Once you’ve tapped the playlist you’ll see more options, like Mellow Piano, Ambient Unwind or even the option From Library, which pulls from your music. Tap the playlist you want and it will be assigned to that control.
No need to find a playlist to study to now.
I love this addition to my iPhone because I always struggle with picking out a playlist at the beginning of my work day. Tapping the Productivity control makes it easy to play music when I’m waiting for my coffee to kick in and I don’t want to make a musical decision yet. However, I do wish all these controls could be grouped into one control or widget.
This is also an interesting addition to your iPhone considering your phone can already be turned into a white noise machine with Background Sounds. It feels like Apple is trying to make your iPhone the first device you turn to when you need some music to help you fall asleep or be more productive, potentially icing out other services that offer similar playlists, like Spotify or YouTube.
Recipes in Apple News
Apple News Plus costs $12 a month and gives you access to articles from major publications, puzzles and soon — recipes.
In the iOS 18.4 beta, subscribers can access a new section in Apple News called Food, which is filled with recipes from publications like Food & Wine, Good Food and more. Subscribers can save recipes to their devices to access them offline later, and a new cook mode will display instructions on full screen so you can easily follow along with recipes while in your kitchen.
I’ll eat that entire pan of “Cinnamon Toast” cake bars.
The new Food section also has stories on restaurants, healthy eating tips and more, but let’s be honest, having access to all those recipes is a great addition. Apple’s inclusion of this feature is likely the tech giant trying to take on other publications’ cooking and recipe sections.
The New York Times, for example, launched its Cooking section in 2014, and the Times said it had nearly 600,000 Cooking subscribers by 2020. The section isn’t included in the publication’s basic subscription plan so you have to either pay an extra $6 a month or subscribe to a more expensive plan to access this section.
But Apple isn’t charging extra for access to recipes like the Times. That makes an Apple News Plus subscription more valuable to home cooks, or anyone trying to become a better chef at no extra cost.
More default app changes
When Apple released iOS 18.2 in December, that update let you change the default apps for things like messaging and calling. And with the iOS 18.4 beta, Apple is letting some people change more default apps.
One new default app category is Translation. With the beta, you can change your iPhone’s default translation app — Apple Translate — to another third-party app, like Google Translate.
And according to 9to5Mac, people in the European Union can also change their default navigation app. Apple Maps is the default for this category, but people in the EU can change it to another app, like Waze.
Podcast changes
You can set your Podcasts widget to just play episodes of your favorite show.
The iOS 18.4 beta also brings a few new updates to the Podcasts app. If you want to add a Podcasts widget to your home screen, you now have more options, including Shows and Library. Choosing a Shows widget will play episodes from a particular show you follow, and choosing a Library widget will play episodes from a list you specify in your library.
There are also two new settings in Podcasts in the latest beta, Podcasts Settings and Notification Settings. You can find these by opening the Podcasts app and tapping your profile image in the top-right corner of your screen. But these new settings don’t do anything in this beta no matter how many times you press them, so hopefully Apple adds functionality in a future update.
Siri, Apple Intelligence and iPhone Apps
Who would have thought Phone could open Phone?
With the iOS 18.4 beta, Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones can use Siri to learn more about first-party apps on the iPhone. To access this, go into an app like Messages, Mail or Settings, then tap twice across the bottom of your screen to access type to Siri. Siri will then show you a few suggestions based on the app you’re in.
So if you’re in Phone, Siri will display “What can I do in Phone?” Tap this suggestion and you will get a list of actions you can do in the app, like make a call, a FaceTime call or strangely, open Phone. Thanks, Siri, I never would have thought I’d be able to open Phone after I opened Phone.
Apple Intelligence coming to more people
One of the hurdles to accessing Apple Intelligence is having a compatible iPhone, but for many people around the world with an appropriate device those features are still walled off. But that will change with iOS 18.4.
Apple wrote online that Apple Intelligence will be available in more languages, including Spanish, French and Japanese, when iOS 18.4 is released in April. The tech giant also wrote that people in the EU can access Apple Intelligence for the first time with the upcoming update, too.
Those are a few of the new features developers and public beta testers can try with the first public beta of iOS 18.4. There will likely be more betas before the OS is released to the public, so there’s plenty of time for Apple to change these features.
For more on iOS 18, here’s what you need to know about iOS 18.3.1 and iOS 18.3. You can also check out our iOS 18 cheat sheet.
Watch this: Apple Vision Pro Gets Apple Intelligence and an iPhone App at Last
