Apple keeps the updates coming! Following the major release of iOS 18 last fall, iOS 18.4 has landed, bringing another round of refinements, new features, and important security patches to your iPhone. This update focuses heavily on expanding Apple Intelligence capabilities, enhancing core apps like Photos and News, and adding useful quality-of-life improvements.

Let’s dive into what’s new in iOS 18.4:

Apple Intelligence Gets Smarter (and Broader)

Apple Intelligence, the suite of AI features introduced with iOS 18, receives several key enhancements (Note: These features require an iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max or any iPhone 16 model):

  • Priority Notifications: Tired of notification overload? iOS 18.4 uses on-device intelligence to identify your most important alerts and highlights them in a dedicated section at the top of your Lock Screen. You can customize which apps are eligible for prioritization in Settings > Notifications.
  • Visual Intelligence for iPhone 15 Pro: Previously limited to iPhone 16 models with the Camera Control button, the powerful Visual Intelligence feature (which lets you identify objects, translate text, and more using your camera) can now be activated via the Action Button on iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, or via a new Control Center shortcut.
  • Expanded Language Support: Apple Intelligence features are now available in more languages, including French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, and localized English for India and Singapore, significantly expanding its reach, particularly across the EU.
  • Image Playground “Sketch” Style: Unleash your creativity with a new “Sketch” style option in Image Playground, joining Animation and Illustration for AI image generation.
  • Genmoji Clarity: The keyboard icon for creating custom emoji now includes the word “Genmoji” for easier identification.

Control Center Convenience

The customizable Control Center gets even more useful:

  • Ambient Music: Instantly set the mood with new Ambient Music controls. Choose from Sleep, Chill, Productivity, or Wellbeing categories to play curated, instrumental Apple Music playlists directly from Control Center.
  • New AI Shortcuts: A dedicated Apple Intelligence section can be added, providing quick access to Talk to Siri, Type to Siri, and Visual Intelligence.
  • UI Tweaks: Minor refinements include signal strength bars on the Wi-Fi/Cellular toggles and subtle visual cues on the Focus toggle and Brightness/Sound sliders.

Photos App Gets Organized

Managing your photo library becomes easier with several welcome additions:

  • New Filters: Easily filter your main library view to show or hide photos/videos that aren’t in an album or weren’t synced from a computer.
  • Reorder Collections: You can now reorder the items within the Media Types and Utilities sections.
  • Consistent Sorting: Filtering options (like sorting by oldest or newest first) are now more consistent across all collections.
  • Sort Albums by Date Modified: A helpful option for finding recently edited albums.
  • Hide Auto-Albums: Option to disable the “Recently Viewed” and “Recently Shared” collections in Photos Settings.
  • Improved Hidden Album Privacy: Hidden photos are no longer included when importing to a Mac/PC if “Use Face ID” is enabled for the album.

For the Foodies: Apple News+ Recipes

Subscribers to Apple News+ gain a dedicated “Food” section:

  • Browse thousands of recipes from top publishers.
  • Save favourites to your Recipe Catalog.
  • Follow step-by-step instructions in the practical “Cooking mode.”
  • Read stories about restaurants, kitchen tips, healthy eating, and more.

Express Yourself: New Emoji

iOS 18.4 incorporates characters from Unicode 16, adding 8 new emojis to your keyboard, including: Face with bags under eyes, Fingerprint, Leafless tree, Root vegetable, Harp, Shovel, and Splatter.

Other Notable Changes & Fixes

  • Vision Pro App: Automatically installed for Apple Vision Pro owners, providing a hub for discovering content, managing the device, and accessing tips.
  • App Store Improvements: You can now pause and resume app downloads/updates directly from the update list. AI-powered summaries of user reviews are also available.
  • Podcasts Widgets: New “Followed Shows” and “Library” widgets for quicker access.
  • Shortcuts Actions: Many new actions added for controlling settings within Apple apps like Safari, Maps, Calendar, Reminders, TV, Books, Notes, Weather, and more.
  • CarPlay Tweaks: Some users with larger screens may see a third row of app icons. EU users can now set a default navigation app.
  • Home App: Adds support for controlling Matter-compatible robot vacuum cleaners within the app and including them in scenes/automations.
  • Language Support: Adds system support for 10 new languages, primarily South Asian (Bangla, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu).
  • Accessibility: Includes enhancements for VoiceOver and braille users.
  • Bug Fixes & Security: As always, this update includes numerous (>60 reported) security patches and bug fixes to improve stability and performance across the system. Some users have reported increased smoothness, while others note minor lingering bugs.

How to Update

Updating is straightforward: Go to Settings > General > Software Update. Tap “Download and Install” and follow the prompts. Ensure your iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi and has sufficient battery life (or is plugged in).

Conclusion

iOS 18.4 is a substantial point release, particularly strong on expanding Apple Intelligence features, refining core apps like Photos, and adding handy Control Center options like Ambient Music. Combined with the usual dose of bug fixes and crucial security updates, it’s an update worth installing for most users looking to get the latest capabilities from their iPhone.