Apple officially announced its yearly operating system update at the WWDC event on June 6, 2022. iPhones started to get the iOS 16 updates around September 12, 2022, after several rounds of beta testing by the company. Soon, the updates for iOS 16.1 and iOS 16.2 were rolled out in the months of October and December, respectively. It is quite unusual for Apple to release the iOS 16.4 beta 4 update in March, which is quite late. But what we can deduce is that the final release of iOS 16.4 will be coming somewhere at the end of March, probably in the company’s spring event. Along with iOS 16.4 beta 4, the company also launched macOS 13.3 beta 4, watchOS 9.4 beta 4, tvOS 16.4 beta 4, and HomePodOS 16.4 beta 4. Now, like the other updates, iOS 16.4 beta 4 comes with a plethora of new features and bug fixes, and in this article, we will talk about them.
New Features In iOS 16.4 Beta 4
Discover some of the additions and significant changes brought by the Apple iOS 16.4 beta 4 here.
Book Updates: When you open the Apple Books app after installing the update, you get a new splash screen that welcomes you and provides all the general information. The page turn curl animation, which seemed natural for turning pages while reading an e-book, was removed in the previous update. In place of that, other animations were incorporated, like the page disappearing and the next page appearing quickly, or the page would slide to the side of the screen. Not only had they brought back the page-turn curl animation, but from the new splash screen, you can even choose any theme, animation, and other things to your liking.
Podcast Update: The iOS 16.4 beta 4 update has refined the Podcast app across all devices, including the iPhone, iPad, and CarPlay. You can get access to all your subscribed podcast channels under the Library now, and the UP Next queue provides the ability to filter and browse episodes by season, as well as play episodes from podcasts you do not follow or have subscribed to.
Music Updates: Apple has promised that it will release a dedicated app for classical music on March 28, 2023, by the name of Apple Music Classical. After installing the iOS 16.4 beta 4 update, you will encounter a separate section for classical music in the Music App by the same name. On clicking that, it will take you to Apple’s App Store via a pop-up window, where you can pre-order the app and learn more about it by watching their video. When adding a song or deleting one from the queue, the Music App does not pop up in the middle of the screen. You can find a tiny banner at the bottom with information about the song, and the profile photo of the user is shown on the Library tab.
Beta Software And Apple ID Update: Under the General Software updates in the settings, there is a Beta Update option. Using this option, it can be found out whether the account is enrolled in public beta, developer beta, or both, by beta testers and developers. In this way, the company has simplified the beta installation process, and users do not need to download a new configuration profile from the Apple Developer website. This also helps Apple restrict third-party profiles and sites from encroaching.
New Emojis: Until now, 31 new emojis have been spotted that are part of the Unicode 15.0 Standard recommendation. Several heart colors, shaking faces, several animals (jellyfish, moose, goose), food items, and musical instruments can be found. It is worth noting that if you send these to someone who is still using an older OS, they will not be able to see the new emojis as the OS will not support these new characters.
Web Notifications: You can now get web-based notifications on your iPhone via the Safari browser present on your device. These are quite similar to the notifications that you receive from the App Store, and it will only provide notifications of those websites you have saved via the web app on the Home Screen.
Miscellaneous
Some other areas where the iOS 16.4 beta 4 update has brought refinement are:
- Three order tracking widgets of different sizes from the Apple Wallet can be placed on the Home Screen for active order tracking.
- When you go to Apple Care Plan via the settings, there will be small icons beside each device indicating which the company covers under this plan.
- Enabling or disabling the always-on display option with certain focus modes can now be done on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
- A revamped Home App architecture has been introduced via the new update, which enhances the app’s ability to perform with more reliability and efficiency when controlling smart home accessories.
- With this update, 5G Standalone support has been enabled for the first time, allowing users to access faster speeds where possible. This feature is exclusively available to T-Mobile customers in the USA for now.
- You can get automatic Mastodon links on messages.
- Chickasaw and Choctaw language keyboards have been added, along with new Siri voices for Hebrew and Arabic.
Wrapping Up
All the new features that are mentioned in the article are only available to people who are a part of the Beta Software Program. If seen practically, all these features are still unfinished and are in a testing phase, so do not expect an enthralling user experience. Last but not least, do not install these beta updates on your primary phone, or take a backup if you are installing them on your primary phone.
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