Apple releases iOS 26.4 with AI Apple Music playlists and relief for speedy typers

Apple has released iOS 26.4 for iPhone, which is headlined by a new AI Apple Music feature called Playlist Playground and eight new emoji including orca, trombone, landslide, ballet dancer, and a distorted face.

The Apple Music enhancements are the key takeaway from this update, with the playlist generation tool Playlist Playground helping listeners fashion a collection from a description of their choosing.

There’s also a new Concerts feature, highlighting shows in the area from artists you’ve listened to. Furthermore, Apple has added new ambient music widgets, offering quick Home Screen access to the Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing tracks.

The iOS 26.4 update (which is accompanied by iPadOS 26.4 for tablet users) is available to download now also offers a number of accessibility options, including tweak to the Liquid Glass UI that reduces the animations for those sensitive to screen motion.

The improved keyboard accuracy feature will help speedy typers cut down on typos, while there’s also a new Freeform image creation option.

As expected, there’s still no sign of the revamped, personalised Siri assistant which continues to be held back for further refinements. It may be the summer before those enhancements are even shown off, let alone released.

The full release notes are below:

Apple Music

• Playlist Playground (beta) generates a playlist from your description, complete with a title, description, and tracklist
• Concerts helps you discover nearby shows from artists in your library and recommends new artists based on what you listen to
• Offline Music Recognize in Control Center identifies songs without an internet connection and delivers results automatically when you’re back online
• Ambient Music widget for Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing brings curates playlists to the Home Screen
• Full screen backgrounds give album and playlist pages a more immersive look

Accessibility

• Reduce bright effects setting minimizes bright flashes when tapping on elements like buttons
• Subtitle and caption settings are available from the captions icon while viewing media, making them easier to find, customize, and preview
• Reduce Motion setting more reliably reduces the animations of Liquid Glass for users sensitive to screen motion

This update also includes the following enhancements:

• 8 new emjoji including an orca, trombone, landslide, ballet dancer, and distorted face are available in the emoji keyboard
• Freeform gains advanced image creation and editing tools, and a premium content library, joining Apple Creator Studio
• Mark reminders as urgent from the Quick Toolbar or by touching and holding, and filter for urgent reminders in your Smart Lists
• Purchase Sharing lets adult members in Family Sharing groups use their own payment method when making purchases, without relying on the family organizer
• Improved keyboard accuracy when typing quickly