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Apple released the first developer beta of iOS 16.4 on Thursday and while this update is designed for a small base of users, the iPhone-maker has given us a glimpse of the features to expect when the stable version of iOS 16.4 is seeded. The features include new emojis, an updated podcasts app, and notification support for web apps.
Emojis are pretty important and we are getting 31 of them with iOS 16.4. The first draft of these emojis — including a moose, a goose, a pink heart, and “I am shook” — was released last year. Now, with Apple’s latest software update, they will soon come to iOS devices. As Thursday’s release is a developer beta, there might still be some design modifications to these emojis in the final release.
Apple’s Podcasts app is also getting updated with new features in the iOS 16.4 update. Notably, if you have subscribed to channels through the podcasts app, they will show up in a new “Channels” section in your library. With iOS 16.4, users will be able easily to resume shows on the move by accessing the browse section in CarPlay mode. The app updates will also ship to Podcasts’ iPad and macOS apps through the upcoming iPadOS 16.4 and macOS 13.3 releases.
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 either have to manually delete them from there or mark them as played.
Apple’s iOS 16.4 update also brings good news for website push notification fans. 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 this feature at the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) last year. Safari 16.1 update allowed W3C standards-based “Web Push” mechanism to macOS Ventura.
In the WebKit blog, Apple said users can now also add web apps to the home screens from third-party browsers. Until now, they could only do this through Safari.
There are some small but notable upgrades that are coming with iOS 16.4. First, the Messages app now supports a rich preview of Mastodon links, so you will be able to see more details about the post. The software update is also adding support for T-mobile’s 5G standalone service for better speeds. What’s more, users will be able to set the Always On screen on or off with a Focus filter.
You can download the iOS 16.4 beta through a developer profile or wait for the public beta version to drop to test it out.
