The next iPhone update, iOS 26.4, is shaping up to be a big one, with major changes across multiple services. Those with Family Sharing turned on may find a small tweak to how payment methods work among the most useful changes.
As spotted by MacRumors in the latest iOS 26.4 beta, Family Sharing now allows adults with connected accounts to use their own payment options and therefore spend their own money to contribute toward shared services.
Ever since Family Sharing launched in 2014, you’ve had to use a single payment method, provided by the organizer, for all app and content purchases across up to six accounts.
A new purchase-sharing support document has been updated to say, “The family organizer pays for everyone’s purchases unless they turn off Purchase Sharing or other adult family members use their own payment method to make purchases.”
If you want to include your own payment method, or more likely, the organizer asks you to start using one, that will soon be an option. The system will still default to the organizer if you don’t manually add one. There are no changes to payment methods for child accounts, who will still need to use the organizer’s payment method.
Another new update in iOS 26.4 is set to fix a keyboard accuracy bug that users encountered when typing quickly. The bug caused some users to find messages with missing characters, even though the keyboard appeared to have been pressed.
Earlier versions of iOS 26.4’s beta showed new updates for Apple Music, including a new AI Playlist Playground tool, redesigned albums and playlists, and the option to see your favorite artist’s upcoming concert details.
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The Apple Podcasts app is also set to get enhanced support for video shows, while updates are coming to CarPlay, Health, Freeform, and the Wallpaper app. The update may also introduce end-to-end encryption for RCS when messaging Android phones. It’s unclear whether the feature will be ready for the final software or will remain in testing.
We don’t yet have a final release date for iOS 26.4, but it’s likely to arrive next week. Given Apple’s history with its minor iOS updates, we’d expect to see it before the end of March. If history is any indication, the update may arrive on March 23.
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