iOS 26.4 is coming out at the end of this month and it’s a major update for new iPhone features. Here are my favorite four features of iOS 26.4.

#1: Apple Music's 'Playlist Playground'

Apple Music is gaining many new features with iOS 26.4, including an exciting AI capability: 'Playlist Playground'.

Playlist Playground allows you to create new playlists with just a text prompt.

The music app offers suggested prompts you can choose from, but you can start from scratch and write anything you want.

After Playlist Playground creates the new playlist, you can provide additional input to enhance it or add and remove songs as you wish.

I love how Playlist Playground makes creating playlists so easy. Finding music that fits my current mood becomes quite effortless.

#2: New emojis

Apple typically adds new emojis to the iPhone only once a year, and the latest additions are coming with iOS 26.4.

Among the new emojis are:

  • Ballet Dancer
  • Broken Face
  • Clash Cloud
  • Hairy Creature
  • Land Slide
  • Killer Whale
  • Trombone
  • Treasure Chest

So far, my personal favorites are Broken Face, Clash Cloud, Hairy Creature, and Treasure Chest. I can definitely see these becoming part of my regular emoji rotation.

#3: Video Updates in Apple Podcasts

Apple Podcasts has supported video podcasts for years, but this feature became stagnant and was not widely used by creators. With the increasing popularity of video shows on YouTube and Spotify, it was time for Apple to make its own updates, and iOS 26.4 seems to provide that.

Apple is offering a new and improved video experience in the Podcasts app. I haven’t been able to test it in the beta version yet, but here are the innovations Apple is introducing:

In the Apple Podcasts app, users will be able to seamlessly switch between watching and listening to shows, making it as simple and enjoyable to discover and watch video podcasts as it is to listen to audio podcasts. Users can watch videos within the app and switch to horizontal full-screen mode, as well as download videos for offline viewing. The automatic quality adjustment provided by HLS technology ensures smooth playback under varying network conditions and allows listeners to have the best experience on Wi-Fi or mobile connections. Video episodes will integrate with the existing features that Apple Podcasts users already love; these include personalized recommendations and editorial curation on the New tab and Category pages.

The Podcasts app is my preferred podcast client thanks to two excellent features: transcripts and automatic chapters. I’m looking forward to the refresh of the video experience as well.

#4: New Design for Apple Music Albums and Playlists

Another Apple Music feature that is one of my favorites in iOS 26.4 is the new full-screen design for albums and playlists.

Now, the entire interface of the Music app is toned to complement the color of the album or playlist artwork.

This creates a beautiful effect that gives the app a fresh and personalized feel to the music you’re listening to.

For more information about the new features coming with iOS 26.4, you can check out our full guide here.

Which new iOS 26.4 features did you like the most in the beta version, or which one are you especially looking forward to? Let us know in the comments.

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