{"id":535092,"date":"2026-03-20T16:49:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/535092\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T16:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:49:12","slug":"ios-26-4-has-three-new-features-you-might-use-every-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/535092\/","title":{"rendered":"iOS 26.4 has three new features you might use every day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t<img width=\"1600\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774025349_555_ios-26.4-hero-iphone.jpg\" class=\"skip-lazy wp-post-image\" alt=\"\"  decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p>iOS 26.4 is almost here, with a launch likely <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2026\/03\/18\/ios-26-4-release-date-heres-when-new-iphone-features-are-coming\/\" type=\"post\" id=\"1040528\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">just days away<\/a>. The update is packed with <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2026\/03\/06\/ios-26-4-new-iphone-features\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a lot of new features<\/a>, including three that have a good chance of becoming daily go-tos for users.<\/p>\n<p>#1: New emoji<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/new-emoji-ios-26-4-beta.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1042779\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>New emoji typically only arrive once per year, and iOS 26.4 is this year\u2019s emoji update.<\/p>\n<p>After updating to iOS 26.4, you\u2019ll find <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2026\/03\/09\/ios-26-4-will-add-these-new-emoji-to-your-iphone\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">eight new emoji<\/a> in the iPhone\u2019s emoji keyboard:<\/p>\n<p>Ballet Dancer<\/p>\n<p>Distorted Face<\/p>\n<p>Fight Cloud<\/p>\n<p>Hairy Creature\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Landslide<\/p>\n<p>Orca<\/p>\n<p>Trombone<\/p>\n<p>Treasure Chest<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s always fascinating to see which emoji become hits among users, and the various meanings they might take on. Some of my early favorites are Distorted Face, Fight Cloud, and Hairy Creature.<\/p>\n<p>#2: Upgraded video experience in Apple Podcasts<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3000\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/apple-podcasts-video-ios-26.4.webp.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1039494\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Apple Podcasts added one of my favorite new features recently in iOS 26.2: <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2025\/11\/06\/ios-26-2s-new-apple-podcasts-feature-makes-the-app-very-hard-to-resist\/\" type=\"post\" id=\"1027089\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">support for automatic chapters<\/a>. But in iOS 26.4, Apple is upgrading the app once again.<\/p>\n<p>iOS 26.4 introduces a <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2026\/02\/16\/apple-podcasts-app-gaining-enhanced-video-podcast-experience-in-ios-26-4\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">new, more feature-rich experience<\/a> for video podcasts.<\/p>\n<p>It may take a little time after the update launches before we start to see more video podcasts on Apple\u2019s platform. But with iOS 26.4, Apple will let users switch seamlessly between video and audio-only versions of episodes\u2014with no need to worry about losing progress. <\/p>\n<p>After the update, users will also be able to download video episodes for offline playback. And even when streaming over cellular, Apple\u2019s HLS technology should provide a solid video experience.<\/p>\n<p>#3: AI chatbot apps in CarPlay<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/carplay-ultra-ios-26-aston.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1040131\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>iOS 26.4 <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2026\/02\/18\/ios-26-4-adds-support-for-voice-based-ai-apps-to-carplay\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">adds support<\/a> for a brand new category of CarPlay apps: voice-based conversational apps.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s right: AI chatbot apps like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Claude are coming to CarPlay.<\/p>\n<p>Apple only allows certain types of apps to offer CarPlay support, and starting with iOS 26.4, \u2018voice-based conversational apps\u2019 join the list.<\/p>\n<p>You won\u2019t be able to replace Siri with a third-party AI assistant. But once developers add CarPlay support, you will be able to interact with your favorite AI tools via dedicated CarPlay apps.<\/p>\n<p>Per Apple\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/developer.apple.com\/download\/files\/CarPlay-Developer-Guide.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">official developer documentation<\/a>, these apps are strictly limited to voice interactions for safety reasons. So when you launch an app, it should go straight into voice mode, and won\u2019t be allowed to show text or imagery in response to queries\u2014nobody wants more distracted drivers on the road.<\/p>\n<p>For an overview of more new features coming in iOS 26.4, <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2026\/03\/06\/ios-26-4-new-iphone-features\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">see our full guide here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Best iPhone accessories<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/9to5mac.com\" aria-label=\"Add 9to5Mac as a preferred source on Google\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"google-preferred-source-badge-dark\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768338849_561_google-preferred-source-badge-dark.png\" alt=\"Add 9to5Mac as a preferred source on Google\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"google-preferred-source-badge-light\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768338849_421_google-preferred-source-badge-light.png\" alt=\"Add 9to5Mac as a preferred source on Google\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"disclaimer-affiliate\">FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/about\/#affiliate\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"iOS 26.4 is almost here, with a launch likely just days away. The update is packed with a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451024,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[165,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-535092","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-mobile","9":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}