- Apple’s iOS 26.4 beta update has arrived for iPhone
- The update contains several interesting new features.
- But it lacks the new Siri powered by Apple Intelligence
Apple’s iOS 26.4 update is here, at least in beta form, and it brings with it a host of new features and improvements. From health metrics to camera tweaks, there are plenty of updates in the beta, and one glaring absence.
We’ve put together some of the biggest changes below, so you can see what you get if you decide to download and install the beta. If you decide to go that route, be sure to back up your iPhone in case something goes wrong.
1. Zoom Audio in Camera App
Apple’s Camera app got a new ‘Audio Zoom’ setting in iOS 26.4. When enabled, recorded audio will focus on the subject of your video when you zoom. This could help ensure that distracting sounds are removed, or at least not the focus of your video, and that you can properly hear the audio coming from your subject.
2. Health app updates
There have been several changes to the Health app in iOS 26.4 that will hopefully give you a better understanding of your well-being. For example, the Sleep section of the app contains a new Average Bedtime metric that shows the times you went to bed over the last 14 nights.
Additionally, the Vitals section of the Health app now includes your blood oxygen level in the daily summary graph. Although previous versions of iOS had a section for blood oxygen information, your levels were not as easy to find.
3. Personal hotspot
Do you find yourself using the Personal Hotspot settings to share your iPhone’s data allowance with other devices? In iOS 26.4, it’s now much easier to see how much data you’re using this way. In the Personal Hotspot section of the Settings app, you can tap Data Usage to see how much data has been sent to your Apple devices, and non-Apple products are listed under the Other Devices heading. Your total Personal Hotspot usage is displayed next to the Data Usage button.
4. Apple Music
Do you want to add a track to multiple playlists in Apple Music? Until now you couldn’t do this, which was a frustrating limitation for Apple’s music streaming service. Now, that’s all changed in iOS 26.4, with the update allowing you to select a song and choose multiple existing playlists to add it to. That should save you a lot of time repeatedly adding tracks and managing your music library.
5. Shortcuts
Apple’s Shortcuts app is a great (and highly underrated) tool for your iPhone. With iOS 26.4, you get a Set Battery Charge Limit control. This allows you to automatically set a limit on your iPhone’s charge percentage, which could help extend its life and slow down battery drain. It works in 5% increments, from 80% to 100%, and mirrors a similar shortcut recently added to macOS 26.4.
Where is the new Siri?
Despite all the updates, there’s one feature that stands out by its absence: a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence. Previous rumors had suggested that this would be introduced in iOS 26.4, but despite those claims, we’re still stuck with the standard version of Apple’s virtual assistant.
In recent days, it had been claimed that Apple was having problems with the new version of Siri and that the feature could be delayed to later versions of iOS 26, or even iOS 27. That sounded like bad news for Apple, and now that the absence of the new Siri has been confirmed, it raises serious questions about Apple’s ability to keep up with its rivals when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI). The new Siri really needs to surprise people to give Apple any chance to compete, when it arrives.
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