Apple on Monday released its highly anticipated iOS 18.4 update for iPhone. It adds to the list of Apple Intelligence features including Priority Notifications and the availability of Visual Intelligence on the iPhone 15 Pro models. With the update, the Cupertino-based technology giant also expands its AI suite to include India and other regions, which eliminates the need to set the device and Siri language to English (US) to access the features.
There are new features, new toggles in the Control Centre, new emojis, and an app to customise the Apple Vision Pro features as part of the update.
iOS 18.4 Update for iPhone: Availability
Apple says iOS 18.4 update expands Apple Intelligence features to include support for Chinese (Simplified), English (India, Singapore), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil) and Spanish languages. Thus, iPhone users in India can now gain access to the AI features without having to change the device language.
iOS 18.4 Update for iPhone: Features
A key new addition with the update is the support for Visual Intelligence on the iPhone 15 Pro models. Initially introduced with the iPhone 16 models in September, it is a visual lookup tool which leverages Apple Intelligence to help users learn about objects and places instantly. It can summarise text, translate it between languages, and detect phone numbers or email addresses and add them to contacts. Further, users can also enable web search to look up a product they like, solve a math equation, or simply ask ChatGPT to provide more information.
While this feature takes advantage of the new Camera Control button on the iPhone 16 lineup, iPhone 15 Pro users may be able to toggle it via the Action button and a dedicated Control Centre toggle.
Building upon the previous announcement, the iOS 18.4 update introduces an Apple Vision Pro app for iPhone. It enables users to download apps and games for the Vision Pro via the App Store, discover films and shows tailored for the mixed reality (MR) headset, get tips, and access other information. There’s also a new feature which Apple calls Review Summaries. As the name suggests, it compiles information from individual reviews left by users on an app or a game on the App Store to create a comprehensive summary, enabling others to quickly get an idea about the app without having to scroll through the entire list.
Another addition is the new toggles for two existing functionalities — talk to Siri and Visual Intelligence. Meanwhile, the company also introduces an Ambient mode toggle which enables users to play ambient soundscapes in the background. With iOS 18.4, the Apple News+ app shows recipes from global recipe publishers along with a catalogue which they can browse through to find the perfect dish. The Image Playground app now provides Sketch as an additional style option alongside animation and illustration.
