Apple just dropped the fourth developer beta of iOS 26.4 – and historically, that’s the point at which a stable release no longer seems hypothetical. It’s also worth being excited about; This update is full of features that are really important in daily life. Frankly, some of these should have shipped years ago. But here we are.
Apple should have made the security update earlier
Stolen Device Protection, previously buried deep enough in the settings to be considered a hidden feature, is now automatically activated when you update. It enforces Face ID or Touch ID before anyone can access your Passwords app, trigger Lost Mode, or make Safari purchases—meaning the thief who surfed your passcode over your shoulder at a coffee shop will still walk away empty-handed. A standard change; lots of peace of mind.
The camera fix your ears have been waiting for
You film your child’s school play from the back row, zoom in heroically – and in the audio you can still hear the two parents clapping next to you. Audio Zoom solves this seemingly brilliant problem. If you enable it in the camera settings, your microphone’s focus will narrow along the lens so that the sound actually matches the recording. Finally.
Your battery health now has a chance
Not glamorous, really useful. The new Set Charging Limit action in the Shortcuts app lets you automate your iPhone’s maximum charging limit—overnight caps, travel day caps, whatever you want—without having to manually dig through the settings every time. For anyone watching their battery health slowly decline and silently blaming themselves, this makes the responsible habit nearly effortless.
Finally hotspot data where it always should have lived
Apple has moved the Personal Hotspot data numbers from the Cellular submenu to the hotspot section itself, where it always belongs. If you regularly connect a laptop or a colleague’s device, you can now see exactly who burned your data without unnecessary detours. Small; satisfactory.
Europe gets a notification upgrade; everyone else is waiting
Remember the notification forwarding feature that Apple quietly dropped before iOS 26.3 shipped? It’s back and allows your iPhone to send notifications to third-party wearables like Android smartwatches.
However, the trade-off is a bit awkward: your Apple Watch will go silent as soon as you switch allegiances. One in, one out. It’s EU exclusive for now because the rest of the world apparently hasn’t complained loud enough yet.
These features are also coming to your iPad
The iPhone is coming into the spotlight, but iPad users aren’t left out either. iOS 26.4 – alongside iPadOS 26.4 – brings several features to both platforms: Playlist Playground (an AI tool that creates full playlists from a text prompt), a redesigned Apple Music with full-screen graphics, improved video podcasts in Apple Podcasts, and a new Urgent list in Memories.
Then there’s an Ambient Music widget for your home and lock screens, updates to the Health app including an average bedtime metric, and CarPlay support for third-party AI assistants like ChatGPT and Gemini. Oh, and new emojis – because no update is complete without them.
When will iOS 26.4 come to your iPhone?
Four betas usually mean one thing: the finish line is near. A release candidate around March 16 is likely, which means the stable update will be available on your iPhone around March 23, 2026. So clear your storage and be ready for the new iOS 26.4 features.
