iOS 18.4 Is Out: What’s New?

Mid-cycle iOS updates usually just bring bug fixes and minor tweaks — but not this time. iOS 18.4 introduces a range of new features worth checking out.

We’ve rounded up the highlights of iOS 18.4 to help you decide if it’s time to update your iPhone.

Most of the major updates are tied to Apple Intelligence, which isn’t fully available in some regions (including Russia), but there are still several changes worth noting.

New Emojis

There are eight new additions: a tired face, radish, fingerprint, harp, leafless tree, blotch, shovel, and the flag of Sark.

Ambient Sounds

You can now add up to four ambient sound buttons to Control Center. Options include Sleep, Calm, Productivity, and Comfort — all played through Apple Music. However, you can't add the tracks to favorites, and an internet connection is required.

Updated Toggles in Control Center

The Wi-Fi and cellular icons now reflect signal strength visually — a design change with no functional impact.

Brightness and volume icons also update in color depending on slider position.

Microphone Indicator

The mic activity dot has moved. If something is active in the Dynamic Island (like a call), the dot now appears to the right for better visibility.

Notification Priority

If Apple Intelligence is enabled, you can turn on notification prioritization. Notifications will then be sorted by importance rather than time. You can also manually select which apps get priority.

Visual Intelligence

This feature, which recognizes places and objects in photos, is now available for iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max users — provided Apple Intelligence is on.
Since these models don’t have a dedicated Camera Control button, the function can be assigned to the Action Button.

Siri

With Apple Intelligence enabled, you can now talk to Siri via text. A new “Type to Siri” button is also available in Control Center.

App Store

You can now pause app downloads directly within the App Store, not just cancel them.

Review summarization powered by AI is also being rolled out — but only in select languages (not Russian yet).

Photos

You can now sort shared photos in the gallery and easily find images that aren’t part of any album. There’s also a new button to bulk-delete all recently deleted photos.

Vision Pro App

Apple Vision Pro users now have a dedicated pre-installed app. It helps you discover 3D movies, spatial videos, and recommended apps for the headset.
The “My Vision Pro” tab offers headset details and usage tips — without needing to power on the device.