The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week.
Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far.
Apple Intelligence for Siri
Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS 18.4. These upgrades will include on-screen awareness, deeper per-app controls, understanding of the user's personal context, and more.
Apple Intelligence requires an iPhone 15 Pro model or any iPhone 16 model.
Update: It has since been reported that Apple Intelligence features for Siri might be delayed until iOS 18.5, or at least a later iOS 18.4 beta version.
Apple Intelligence in More Languages
Apple previously announced that a software update coming in April will make Apple Intelligence available in more languages, and that likely refers to iOS 18.4. Additional languages will include English (India), English (Singapore), Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Vietnamese, but Apple said only some of these languages will be added in April, with the rest to follow throughout 2025.
Apple Intelligence is currently available in localized English in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Improved News Summaries
Examples of inaccurate Apple Intelligence notification summariesApple Intelligence notification summaries for news apps are temporarily unavailable on iOS 18.3, after the feature inaccurately summarized some news stories.
Apple promised that improvements to notification summaries are coming in a future software update, so we will see if that happens in iOS 18.4.
Starting with iOS 18.3, summarized notifications have italicized text, which makes them stand out visually compared to regular notifications. In a future software update, though, hopefully the news summaries will actually become more accurate.
New Emoji
iOS 15.4, iOS 16.4, and iOS 17.4 all introduced new emoji, so there is a good chance that trend will continue with iOS 18.4.
Last year, the Unicode Consortium previewed the new emoji that should be coming with iOS 18.4, with new options including face with bags under eyes, fingerprint, leafless tree, root vegetable, harp, shovel, splatter, and more.
Default Map and Translation Apps in EU
In an October 2024 document related to the EU's Digital Markets Act, Apple revealed that it will allow iPhone and iPad users in the EU to set default navigation and translation apps starting in "spring 2025." That timing likely aligns with iOS 18.4.
For example, users should be able to choose Google Maps, Waze, or other options as their default navigation app, instead of Apple Maps. Likewise, they should be able to choose Google Translate, Microsoft Translator, or other options as their default translation app, instead of Apple's Translate app. These options will be added to the new "Default Apps" section in the Settings app on iPhones that was implemented in iOS 18.2.
Robot Vacuum Support in Home App
Apple's website continues to state that robot vacuum support will be added to the Home app in an unspecified iOS 18 update. When available, this feature will allow you to control key functions of your robot vacuum in the Home app, and with Siri voice commands.
Here is how Apple describes the feature:
The Home app now supports the core functionality of robot vacuum cleaners, such as power control, cleaning mode, vacuum, mop, and charge status. They can also participate in automations and scenes, and respond to Siri requests. So you can add them to your cleaning routines — or tell Siri to do some spot cleaning in the living room.
There were references to the feature added in iOS 18.3's code, but the functionality did not go live with that update, so perhaps it will come with iOS 18.4.
