Apple confirms 13 changes coming to your iPhone – unlucky for some or massive improvement?

Many were eagerly awaiting the next iOS update, as it was initially expected to bring the much-anticipated smarter Siri that Apple teased at WWDC in 2024. It was then reported that Siri would be delayed again, so some of the excitement for iOS 26.4 waned, but despite Siri not being on the roster, there’s still plenty to be excited about.

As spotted by 9to5Mac, the RC build of the software has recently been released to beta users, and the expectation is that the final build will be released to the public in the next few days.

It will bring with it 13 enhancements for compatible iPhones, as detailed by Apple's official release notes.

What changes are coming with iOS 26.4?

We mentioned a couple of them last week when we highlighted that iOS 26.4 could appear as early as today – although it hasn’t landed yet.

The features include updates to Apple Music, including Playlist Playground where a playlist is generated based on your description.

Album and playlist pages will also become more immersive with full-screen backgrounds, while a Concerts feature will help you find nearby shows from artists in your library, recommending new artists based on what you like along the way.

There will also be an Offline Music Recognise feature in Control Centre that will allow you to identify songs – like Shazam – but without an internet connection.

Other features include eight new emojis, improved keyboard accuracy when you’re typing quickly, and the ability to mark reminders as urgent from the Quick Toolbar or by touching and holding them.

You will also be able to filter for urgent reminders in Smart Lists, and there’s a Reduce Motion setting coming that will reduce the animations of Liquid Glass for those sensitive to motion.

There are a few other features, too. Purchase Sharing will allow adult members in Family Sharing groups to use their own payment method when making purchases, without relying on the family organiser, and Freeform will join Apple Creator Studio and get advanced image creation and editing tools, as well as a premium content library.

There is no official date on when iOS 26.4 will be released as yet, but we suspect it won’t be long.