Apple released the first developer beta of iOS 16.4 on Thursday and while this update is designed for a small user base, the iPhone maker has given us a glimpse of the features to expect when the stable version of iOS is seeded. 16.4. Features include new emojis, an updated podcasts app, and notification support for web apps.
Emojis are pretty important and we will be getting 31 of them with iOS 16.4. The first draft of these emojis, which includes a moose, goose, pink heart, and “I’m shocked,” was released last year. Now, with the latest software update from Apple, they will soon be coming to iOS devices. As Thursday’s release is a developer beta, there may still be some design tweaks to these emojis in the final release.
Image Credits: Emojipedia
Apple’s Podcasts app is also updated with new features in the iOS 16.4 update. In particular, if you have subscribed to channels through the podcasts app, they will appear in a new “Channels” section in your library. With iOS 16.4, users will be able to easily resume shows on the go by accessing the browse section in CarPlay mode. App updates will also be pushed to the Podcasts iPad and macOS apps via upcoming releases of iPadOS 16.4 and macOS 13.3.
Image Credits: Apple
The Up Next queue in the Podcasts app will display unfinished show episodes, even if you don’t follow that particular podcast. To remove them from the queue, you must manually delete them or mark them as played.
Apple’s iOS 16.4 update also brings good news for fans of website push notifications. If a user has added a web app to the home screen, developers will be able to send a push notification after asking for permission. The company first showed off this feature at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) last year. The Safari 16.1 update enabled the “Web Push” mechanism based on W3C standards for macOS Ventura.
Image Credits: Apple
In it WebKit blog, Apple said that users can now also add web apps to home screens from third-party browsers. Until now, they could only do it through Safari.
There are some small but notable updates coming with iOS 16.4. First of all, the Messages app now supports a rich preview of Mastodon links, so you can see more details about the publication. Software update is also adding support for T-mobile’s standalone 5G service for better speeds. Additionally, users will be able to enable or disable the Always On display with a sharpen filter.
You can download the iOS 16.4 beta through a developer profile or wait for the public beta to drop to try it out.
