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The Biggest Update Since iOS 26? Here's What's New in iOS 26.4

read original get Apple iOS 26.4 Update → more articles
Why This Matters

iOS 26.4 is a significant update that introduces new emoji, adds video support to Apple Podcasts, and enhances accessibility features. These improvements not only enrich user experience but also demonstrate Apple's ongoing commitment to security and innovation, impacting both consumers and the broader tech industry.

Key Takeaways

Apple released iOS 26.4 on March 24, about a week after the tech giant released iOS 26.3.1 (a), the company's first Background Security Improvement update. The most recent update brings a slew of features to your iPhone, including new emoji and video podcasts, plus more than two dozen bug fixes and security patches.

You can download iOS 26.4 now by going to Settings and tapping General. Next, select Software Update, tap Update Now and follow the prompts on your screen.

Here are some of the new features iOS 26.4 brings to your iPhone.

New emoji

All the new emoji iOS 26.4 brings to your iPhone. Apple/CNET

With iOS 26.4, your iPhone gets eight new emoji:

The Unicode Consortium is responsible for creating emoji, and it approved these eight in September as part of Unicode 17.0. But this is the first time the emoji are showing up on iPhones.

Watch this: Don't Wait: iOS 26.4 Brings New Emoji, Keyboard Fixes, AI Playlists 05:37

Video podcasts come to Apple Podcasts

The iOS 26.4 update also brings video to your Podcasts app. To view these video podcasts, open the Podcasts app and start listening to an episode with the video player icon in the top right corner of the title card. Once you're listening, open the media player and tap the Turn Video On button near the podcast's progress bar. The podcast's artwork will be replaced with the video. To turn the video off again, tap Turn Video Off and the podcast's artwork will return.

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