Transcriptions for podcasts and new emojis — among other updates.
Some updates in iOS 17.4 are driven by the new EU Digital Markets Act. From now on, Apple supports alternative app stores — developers wishing to take advantage of this advantage will have to go through an approval process and pay Apple «a core technology fee», which will charge 50 euro cents per installation when the app reaches 1 million downloads per year. The process may take some time, but at the moment, there is at least one alternative marketplace known from Mobivention, which will be available on March 7. Epic is also working on the release of the Epic Game Store for iOS in 2024, and MacPaw plans to officially launch its Setapp store in April.
Additionally, Apple is opening access to NFC payments on iPhone to third-party providers and also allows users in the EU to download alternative browsers that are not based on the WebKit engine (such as Chrome and Firefox) — with a new selection screen in iOS Safari that will offer to install a specified browser when first opened. No alternatives have been officially announced, but Google and Mozilla are already experimenting with new iOS browsers that may be released to the public later.
Among other updates — automatic transcriptions in English, Spanish, French, and German for Apple Podcasts. The text appears automatically and synchronously with the video, and you can also search by word to play the podcast at the exact moment you want.
The iOS 17.4 update includes a new cryptographic protocol for iMessage known as PQ3, which will strengthen end-to-end encryption of messages to resist potential quantum computing attacks. Siri will have the option to read incoming messages in any language, including Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and more. After Unicode 15.1 update Last September, more than 100 new emojis were added, including a lime, a broken chain, a brown mushroom, and a nodding head (and a dozen more people and body emojis got additional directions of movement).
iPhone 15 devices will now display more battery-related information in the settings: including the number of cycles, production date, and when the battery was first used. And finally, the music recognition feature introduced in iOS 14.2 will now allow you to add identified songs to your library and Apple Music playlists.
iOS 17.4 is compatible with the same range of iPhone models as iOS 17, starting with the second-generation iPhone X and iPhone SE lineup. The rollout may be gradual, but you can check to see if the update is available on your device by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
Along with iOS 17.4, Apple has also released iPadOS 17.4, which has many of the same changes, including updating the App Store to comply with EU requirements. The company is also expected to release visionOS 1.1 (for Apple Vision Pro), macOS 14.4, watchOS 10.4, and HomePod 17.4 soon.