iOS 18.4 Update with Ambient Music, New Emoji, Priority Notifications, Mail Categorization for iPad, Released

Apple has released iOS 18.4 for iPhone, along with iPadOS 18.4 for iPad. These updates include a few new features, as well as bug fixes and security enhancements.

iOS 18.4 for iPhone includes new emoji icons, an ambient music generator, a Priority Notifications feature for Apple Intelligence, and various bug fixes and security patches.

iPadOS 18.4 for iPad includes the introduction of the controversial Mail Categorizations feature from iPhone to sort your email inbox for you, ambient music generation, new emoji icons, Priority Notifications, and fixes for various bugs and security issues.

You will also find MacOS Sequoia 15.4 available for Mac, along with updates to macOS Sonoma, macOS Ventura, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS.

How to Download & Install iOS 18.4 / iPadOS 18.4 Update

First, backup your iPhone or iPad to iCloud or a computer. After your device is backed up, you can update iOS easily:

1. Open the “Settings” app on iPhone or iPad
2. Go to “General” and then go to “Software Update”
3. Choose to “Update Now” to download and install iOS 18.4 / iPadOS 18.4

The iPhone or iPad will have to restart to finish installation of the system software update.

Optionally, you can update your iPhone or iPad by connecting the device to a Mac or PC, or by using IPSW firmware files which can be downloaded directly from Apple.

iOS 18.4 IPSW Firmware Files

If you wish to use IPSW files to update your device manually, you can use the links below which point to Apple CDN servers to download the IPSW compatible with your device:

• Updating…

iOS 18.4 Release Notes

Release notes for iOS 18.4 / iPadOS 18.4 are as follows:

Apple Intelligence (All iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max)
– Priority notifications appear at the top of your notifications, highlighting important notifications that may require your immediate attention
– Sketch is now available as an additional style option in Image Playground, allowing you to create gorgeous sketch drawings
– Apple Intelligence features support 8 additional languages and 2 additional English locales, including English (India, Singapore), French (France, Canada), German (Germany), Italian (Italy), Japanese (Japan), Korean (South Korea), Portuguese (Brazil), Simplified Chinese, and Spanish (Spain, Latin America, US)

Apple Vision Pro App
– The new Apple Vision Pro app, automatically installed for users with Apple Vision Pro, helps you discover new content, spatial experiences, and quickly access information about your device

Apple News+
– Recipes from some of the world’s best recipe publishers are now available on Apple News+
– Recipe Catalog allows you to browse or search to find the perfect dish and save it to your Saved Recipes
– Cooking mode lets you easily follow step-by-step directions
– The Food section also includes stories about restaurants, kitchen tips, healthy eating, and more

Photos
– New filters to show or hide items that are not contained in an album, or synced from a Mac or PC, in the Library view in Photos
– Reorder items in the Media Types and Utilities collections in Photos
– Consistent filtering options in all collections, including the ability to sort by oldest or newest first in Photos
– Option to sort albums by Date Modified in Photos
– Ability to disable “Recently Viewed” and “Recently Shared” collections in Photos Settings
– Hidden photos are no longer included for import to Mac or a PC if Use Face ID is enabled in Photos settings

This update also includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:
– Safari recent search suggestions help you quickly get back to previous search topics when starting a new query
– Setup Assistant streamlines steps parents need to take to create a Child Account for a kid in their family, and enables child-appropriate default settings if parents prefer to complete setting up a Child Account later
– Screen Time App Limits persist even after a child uninstalls and reinstalls an app
– App Store includes summaries for user reviews so you can get helpful insights from other users at a glance
– Pause and resume of an app download or update on App Store without losing progress
– New widgets for Podcasts including a Followed Shows widget to track your favorite shows and a Library widget to get to your most used sections, such as Latest Episodes, Saved, and Downloaded
– Ambient Music offers the ability to instantly play music from Control Center, giving access to a set of hand-curated playlists that offer soundtracks for daily life
– Apple Fitness+ Collections can now be added to Library
– Matter-compatible robot vacuum cleaners can be controlled in the Home app as well as be added to scenes and automations
– Support for 10 new system languages including Bangla, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu

Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit:
https://support.apple.com/100100

You’ll also want to make sure you update your Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro as well.