Apple has released iOS and iPadOS 26.4, which includes a new feature called 'Playlist Playground' that uses AI to generate Apple Music playlists, and the addition of eight new emojis.
iOS and iPadOS 26.4 were released on March 25, 2026. The update includes enhancements for general users such as new features in Apple Music, accessibility improvements, and the addition of new emojis, as well as new frameworks and APIs for developers, enhanced security mechanisms, and bug fixes. It is characterized by both subtle improvements to the user experience and the establishment of a foundation for future feature enhancements.
About iOS 26 Updates - Apple Support
iOS & iPadOS 26.4 Release Notes | Apple Developer Documentation
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/ios-ipados-release-notes/ios-ipados-26_4-release-notes
iOS and iPadOS 26.4 bring several changes for general users, including the addition of two new features to Apple Music: 'Playlist Playground' and 'Concerts.' Playlist Playground is a feature that uses AI to automatically generate playlists based on descriptions entered by the user, including titles, descriptions, and song lists. However, Playlist Playground is currently in beta and is being rolled out gradually.
The 'Concerts' feature displays live performance information from artists in your library that are holding shows in your vicinity. It also recommends new artists based on your preferences.
Additionally, the 'Music Recognition' feature, accessible from the Control Center, can now identify songs even when offline without an internet connection, allowing users to retrieve the results later.
The home screen now includes an 'Ambient' widget that provides playlists for sleep, relaxation, work, and more.
In terms of accessibility, new features include settings to reduce the screen's bright flash effect, quicker access to subtitle and caption settings, improved reliability of the ' Reduce Parallax ' feature to reduce animations, and support for AirPods Max 2. The accuracy of high-speed keyboard input has also been improved.
Furthermore, the emoji keyboard now includes eight new emojis: Distorted Face, Fight Cloud, Ballet Dancer, Hairy Creature, Orca, Landslide, Trombone, and Treasure Chest.
First Look: New Apple Emojis in iOS 26.4 Beta 4
https://blog.emojipedia.org/first-look-new-apple-emojis-in-ios-26-4-beta-4/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Furthermore, the 'Freeboard' feature has been enhanced with improved image generation and editing capabilities, allowing for more advanced visual creation within the app. Specifically, image creation and processing that previously required external apps can now be done directly on Freeboard, and a premium content library containing templates and materials has also been added. This makes it possible to complete the entire process, from brainstorming and document creation to the final artwork, within a single app.
The following devices are eligible for the iOS and iPadOS 26.4 update.
・iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17e
・iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16e
・iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max
・iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max
・iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max
・iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max
・iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max
iPhone SE (2nd generation)
iPhone SE (3rd generation)
• iPad Pro (M4 and M5)
• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation or later)
• iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation or later)
iPad Air (3rd generation or later)
iPad (8th generation and later)
• iPad mini (5th generation or later)
For developers, new SDKs for iOS and iPadOS 26.4 are available, and together with Xcode 26.4, the functionality for app development has been enhanced.
Additionally, the Accessory Notifications Framework has been introduced, allowing accessory integration apps to receive forwarded system notifications. Furthermore, AudioAccessoryKit enables third-party audio devices to provide headphone information and support automatic voice switching. These features are currently limited to developer testing and are planned to be made available to the EU in the future.
Background processing has been enhanced with improved Background Assets, allowing you to check the status of asset packs even when offline and control the local allocation of the latest version. In addition, several bugs have been fixed, including crashes during asset downloads, issues with automatic mounting of external HFS media, and problems with the Feedback UI becoming unresponsive.
In terms of security and system features, a full mode of Memory Integrity Enforcement has been introduced, allowing apps to choose stronger memory protection. Additionally, Messages now includes a test function for RCS end-to-end encryption between Apple and Android, although this feature itself is not included in this release and will be available in a future version.
Regarding networking, a problem where the CFRunLoopSource object leaked during proxy configuration has been fixed. In StoreKit, a new field has been added to transactions, and a bug in purchase processing during background startup has been fixed.
In addition, issues such as userActivity reflection bugs in SwiftUI and unsent keyboard notifications in UIKit have been fixed. However, known issues such as inability to export with Reality Composer and inconsistent animation behavior under certain conditions have also been reported. The release notes also caution that the memory error detection tools, Address Sanitizer and Thread Sanitizer, may hang if built with older versions of Xcode.
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in Software, Smartphone, Posted by log1i_yk