Overview
- Apple released Release Candidate builds for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, visionOS, and HomePod, a step that typically precedes a public rollout within about a week.
- Official iOS 26.4 notes highlight Apple Music additions including Playlist Playground (beta) for text‑prompt playlists, Concerts discovery, Offline Music Recognition in Control Center, an Ambient Music widget, and full‑screen album and playlist backgrounds.
- The update adds eight Unicode 17 emoji and user‑facing refinements such as a Reduce bright effects setting, more reliable Reduce Motion, easier subtitle and caption controls, Freeform Creator Studio tools, urgent Reminders, Purchase Sharing for adults, and improved keyboard accuracy.
- macOS Tahoe 26.4 brings a Charge Limit battery slider (80–100%), restores Safari’s compact tab bar option, and warns that Rosetta 2 support is nearing its end, alongside the same new emoji and app refinements noted in Apple’s release materials.
- Platform RCs also include visionOS backend support for HLS video podcasts and tvOS interface and audio tweaks such as removing legacy iTunes apps and adding a Continuous Audio Connection option, while previously tested RCS end‑to‑end encryption and the generative‑AI Siri revamp are not shipping in this update.