Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming iOS 11.4 update to developers, a little under a week after releasing iOS 11.3, an update that introduced a wide range of new features like Battery Health for monitoring the status of your iPhone's battery, Business Chat in Messages, ARKit 1.5 with augmented reality improvements, new Animoji on iPhone X, Health Records from participating medical providers, and more.
Registered developers can download the new iOS 11.4 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center. It appears there's currently a bug preventing the beta profile from being downloaded, but it should be addressed soon.
It's not yet clear what new features will be included in the iOS 11.4 beta aside from the new ClassKit framework Apple introduced at its March event, but we are waiting on several features to be added to iOS 11, including iCloud Messages and AirPlay 2, functionality that has popped up in previous betas and then disappeared before release.
We don't yet know if any of these features will be introduced in iOS 11.4, but we'll update this post once we download the beta and discover what's new.
What's new in iOS 11.4 Beta 1: Messages on iCloud is present in the iOS 11.4 beta after being removed from iOS 11.3 ahead of its release, as are AirPlay 2 features. Apple TV devices are once again listed in the Home app, an AirPlay 2 option.
Stereo support for the HomePod is included, but the feature doesn't work properly as it requires unreleased HomePod software.
Apple's website continues to state that the first vehicle models with next-generation CarPlay will "arrive in 2024." With less than three days remaining in the year, however, that timeframe is looking more and more unlikely.
It would not be entirely Apple's fault if the stated 2024 target is missed, given that it is ultimately up to automakers to roll out the software in vehicles, but it is...
Friday December 27, 2024 2:43 pm PST by Juli Clover
Even though iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.2 added multiple Apple Intelligence features like Image Playground, Genmoji, Writing Tools, and more, there are still new Apple Intelligence capabilities that we're waiting on. Apple has at least one more major Apple Intelligence update coming in 2025, and the functionality that we're expecting is outlined below.
Priority Notifications
Notification summaries...
Thursday December 26, 2024 10:35 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple this week began teasing some kind of upcoming Apple TV+ surprise that's set to happen on January 4 and January 5, telling customers to "stay tuned" and "save the date" in social media posts.
Apple's images have a tagline that says "See for yourself," but it isn't clear what Apple has planned. Some users on Reddit have speculated that Apple might be planning to launch a promotion that...
Monday December 23, 2024 6:30 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
Saturday December 28, 2024 12:03 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Starting with iOS 18.2, released earlier this month, Apple News+ subscribers in the U.S. have access to daily sudoku puzzles in the Apple News app.
There are easy, moderate, and challenging difficulty levels for the daily puzzles. A scoreboard tracks your sudoku stats, including your total number of puzzles solved, fastest completion times per difficulty level, and more.
Sudoku is the...
Tuesday December 24, 2024 8:35 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is expected to release an AirTag 2 next year, and a few new features and changes have already been rumored for the item tracker.
Below, we recap what to expect from the AirTag 2:
The new AirTag is expected to be equipped with Apple's second-generation Ultra Wideband chip for longer range. The chip debuted last year in the iPhone 15 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2, and Apple said it...
Sunday December 22, 2024 8:09 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cites a source within Apple.
The report said that iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that is capable of running iOS 18, which would mean the following models:
iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 15
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 Pro
...
Monday December 23, 2024 4:18 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch sometime in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for.
Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as...
You guys will whine either way if it's released when they are obviously not ready yet.
You guys will defend no matter what... Apple messed up, this feature was announced almost a year ago. If it still needs this much work, they should have never announced it in the original iOS 11 keynote.
