The first iOS 18.4 beta is just around the corner, bringing plenty of new features and changes. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, you can expect it to arrive by next week. Here’s a breakdown of what to look forward to in the new update.
New Features in iOS 18.4 Beta
1. Apple Intelligence Upgrades for Siri
Mark Gurman has been hinting at major Siri upgrades in iOS 18.4, and iPhone users are eager to see what’s coming. Apple plans to improve Siri with three key features: expanded app actions, personal context awareness, and onscreen awareness.
These improvements would let Siri handle more tasks without opening apps, understand your messages and calendar, and interact with what’s on your screen. However, Gurman now suggests that Apple might delay or limit some of these updates until iOS 18.5. With testing revealing inconsistencies, it’s uncertain which features will arrive first, but expect at least some improvements in the next update.
2. Apple Intelligence in More Languages
Apple recently announced that a software update will expand Apple Intelligence to more languages, most likely with the iOS 18.4 beta. You can expect support in English (India), English (Singapore), Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
However, only some of these languages will roll out in the coming update, while the rest will become available throughout 2025. Right now, you can use Apple Intelligence in localized English if you’re in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, or South Africa.
3. Improved News Summaries
With the iOS 18.4 beta, you can expect Apple to bring back an improved notification summaries feature for news apps. The company removed it in the iOS 18.3 update due to inaccurate results, but now it’s making a return with better accuracy.
4. New Emojis
Let’s be real; this might not be the most groundbreaking feature in the new iOS beta, but it’s definitely the one you’ll use the most. You’re probably going to see a new “tired face with bags under its eyes emoji” everywhere in your late-night iMessage group chats.
And that’s not all. Apple is also adding a harp, a shovel, a beet-like vegetable without roots, a purple ink splatter, and a bare, leafless tree. Apple regularly includes the latest emojis approved by the Unicode Consortium in its iOS updates, so you can expect to get these soon.
5. Default Maps and Translation App Setting
To comply with EU regulations, users can now set a third-party app, such as Google Maps or Google Translate, as their default navigation or translation tool. This update gives you more flexibility and customization, making it easier to use an alternative to Apple Maps if you prefer.
6. Other Features
Like with any iOS update, you can expect the iOS 18.4 beta to bring various bug fixes and performance improvements that enhance your device’s stability and speed. This update will also likely include new security patches to keep your device protected.
Eligible Devices for iOS 18.4 Beta
You’ll be able to download the iOS 18.4 beta on a wide range of iPhones, including the iPhone 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and the iPhone 16 series. It also supports the iPhone XS, XS Max, XR, and the 2nd and 3rd generation iPhone SE. However, Apple Intelligence features will be available only on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and all iPhone 16 models.