iOS 10 Beta 4 Tidbits: Redesigned Emoji and New Emoji Characters, Revamped Keyboard Sounds, and More

Apple released iOS 10 beta 4 to developers today and as with any major beta update, it includes several small changes and tweaks as Apple aims to refine the operating system ahead of its public release this fall.

Today's update, available as an over-the-air download for those who installed the first three betas or the beta configuration profile, features new emoji, new keyboard sounds, Notification Center tweaks, and more.

We've rounded up all of the new features in beta four in the video below, so make sure to check it out to get a quick look at what's changed. We're also listing all of the changes in the post below.


Emoji - There are new emoji designed to promote gender equality. Many professions and activity emoji are now available in both male or female options. Emoji have a new texture and many emoji have seen slight design tweaks.

emoji2

New emoji textures. Old emoji on left, new emoji on right.

Control Center - There's an intro screen when opening Control Center for the first time that instructs people to swipe left to access the different Control Center cards.

controlcenteropeningscreen
Haptic feedback - In iOS beta 3, Apple added haptic feedback when pressing the power button on the iPhone to lock it. In beta 4, this feature has been removed. There's no longer a haptic feedback buzz when locking an iPhone.

Accessibility - In the Accessibility section of the Settings app, the Color Filters option includes a set of colored pencils to show off the different color options instead of a color grid. This gives a better idea of how each setting is actually displayed on an iOS device.

Notification Center - The widgets screen, accessible by swiping to the right in the Notification Center, now displays the date. In previous versions of iOS 10, the date was not available.

notificationcenterdate
Home - In the Control Center, the Home app icons have been tweaked again.

controlcenterhome
Keyboard sounds - Keyboard sounds have been slightly tweaked. Backspace now has a distinctive sounds unique from other key press sounds, and there's a new sound for space, return, shift, and number/emoji shift.

Wallpaper - Some older wallpaper options have been removed and the mountain wallpaper with stars from an earlier version of iOS has been re-added.

Related Forum: iOS 10

Popular Stories

iOS 26 on iPhone Feature

Here's When iOS 26 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: Out Now!]

Monday September 15, 2025 12:00 am PDT by
Update 10:06 a.m.: iOS 26 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Today's the day! Apple is about to release iOS 26, which will deliver the biggest redesign since iOS 7 and bring a range of new features and improvements to iPhones worldwide. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at last week's iPhone event that...
Tim Cook Rainbow

Apple Reportedly Plans to Launch These 10 Products in 'Coming Months'

Sunday September 14, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple's annual September event is now in the rearview mirror, with the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone Air, Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3, Apple Watch SE 3, and AirPods Pro 3 set to launch this Friday, September 19. As always, there is more to come. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple plans to release many products in the...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

Apple Says Installing iOS 26 Might Impact Battery Life

Monday September 15, 2025 10:56 am PDT by
In the iOS 26 release notes, Apple is warning iPhone users that installing the new software might have a temporary impact on battery life, which is normal. A new support document explains that major iOS updates require background setup like indexing data and files for search, downloading new assets, and updating apps. Further, Apple says that new features could require more resources,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 Get iOS 26 Features With New Firmware Update

Monday September 15, 2025 10:50 am PDT by
Apple today released updated firmware for the AirPods Pro 2 and the AirPods 4, introducing support for the new AirPods features that are included in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe. The firmware has a build number of 8A356, and it replaces the current 7E93 firmware. With Apple's new software updates, the AirPods Pro 2 and the AirPods 4 support better audio quality for phone calls and...
iphone 17 lineup

iPhone 17 Models Launch on September 19 With These New Features

Friday September 12, 2025 7:58 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 lineup and ultra-thin iPhone Air in stores on Friday, September 19, and the company has already shown off the new devices at its fall event, which ran with the the tagline "Awe dropping." The iPhone 17 series brings a host of new features and enhancements. Here's a rundown of the biggest upgrades and changes: iPhone 17 Display Changes The iPhone...
apple n1 chip

Apple's New N1 Chip in iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Has a Wi-Fi 7 Limitation

Saturday September 13, 2025 10:01 am PDT by
The latest iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air models are equipped with Apple's all-new N1 chip for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread connectivity. However, the chip has a Wi-Fi 7 bandwidth limitation. According to FCC documents reviewed by MacRumors, the N1 chip in all of the new iPhone models supports up to 160 MHz channel bandwidth for Wi-Fi 7, short of the...
iPhone 17 Pro Air Boxes

iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Boxes Revealed

Sunday September 14, 2025 1:36 pm PDT by
T-Mobile President Jon Freier today shared real-world photos of Apple's boxes for the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 models, which launch on Friday. Image Credit: Jon Freier Apple has typically included iPhone box renders in its product environmental reports, but it did not do so for the latest models. However, Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program page does offer some images of the boxes, ...

Top Rated Comments

jdillings Avatar
119 months ago
I am really sick of the focus that emojis get, yet applications like mail, calendar or file/attachment management, facetime are so lackluster.
Emojis and watch bands...welcome to the new Apple.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alecgold Avatar
119 months ago
Ill miss the feedback when locking. Found it really useful.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MartinAppleGuy Avatar
119 months ago
Forgetting the biggest improvement of all; super fast animations.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jdillings Avatar
119 months ago
It seems like nothing else at all happened aside from emojis being update. Nothing at all.
That's Apple today. They spend more time on fixing the gender equality of emojis than on the design and usability of their software. If they spent half as much time working on music app as they've spent on emojis, it wouldn't still be a steaming pile of poo.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mlody Avatar
119 months ago
I am really sick of the focus that emojis get, yet applications like mail, calendar or file/attachment management, facetime are so lackluster.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chrismail627 Avatar
119 months ago
I know it's been said before, but these 2 minute update videos are great. Nice job MacRumors.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)