Apple’s iOS 26.4 hits public beta with AI playlists, video podcasts, and more.

Apple this week released The latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS 26.4which brings a number of new features, including an AI-driven playlist feature in Apple Music, video support in the Podcasts app, end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages, and more.

Updates are available here in pubic betaand public release is expected sometime in March or April.

Apple Music’s AI playlist

One of the best features comes in Apple Music. iOS 26.4 introduces a new “Playlist Playground” AI feature that supports Apple Intelligence. The feature allows users to create up to 25 playlists from words, such as “fun workout mix” or “calm evening.” Users can refine results and select similar graphics.

In addition, the user interface of Apple Music itself has been refreshed to show all albums and playlists.

Concerts Near You

In addition, Apple Music is getting a new “Concerts Near You” feature that helps users find shows from their favorite artists. You can filter this section by Date and Type, or swap locations if you’re traveling.

Apple Podcasts

Following Spotify’s push into video, Apple’s Podcasts app is making it even easier switch back and forth between audio and video segments and this release. Producers can broadcast video podcasts using HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), and listeners can easily switch between audio and video playback within the same session, and move to full screen if desired.

At launch, the video segments will be integrated with other Apple Podcasts features, such as individual recommendations and editorial layouts on the New Page and Group pages, as well as audio podcasts.

HLS also introduces an auto-adaptive feature, which helps videos play smoothly whether the audience is on Wi-Fi or cellular. Additionally, users will be able to download video episodes to watch offline. At launch, HLS is supported by Acast, Amazon’s ART19, Triton’s Omni Studio, and SiriusXM, including SiriusXM Media, AdsWizz, and Simplecast.

Producers will be able to insert video ads, including reading spots, into their podcasts, too. Apple doesn’t charge producers to share podcasts, but it says that, starting later this year, participating networks will have to pay a fee based on HLS video ads.

Secret messages of RCS

Messages is also receiving a significant upgrade with encrypted Rich Communication Services (RCS), which begins testing in iOS 26.4. The writing-end of the RCS conversation will one day help ensure that messages between iPhone users and Android users are as secure as iMessage.

Currently, Apple is only testing this feature among iPhones in beta. These conversations will be marked as encrypted, and cannot be read when sent between devices. The company notes that this will be released publicly in the latest updates of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS, and the beta is not available for all devices and portables.

Stolen Device Detection is enabled by default

Security updates are another feature of iOS 26.4. Stolen Device Protection is now enabled by default, adding biometric authentication for sensitive activities such as accessing saved passwords or changing account details. By requiring Face ID or Touch ID authentication in most cases, Apple reduces the possibility of unauthorized access if the device is stolen and the passcode is compromised.

CarPlay adds in-car video playback

Drivers using Apple CarPlay will also see changes. CarPlay now supports it to play car movies on selected apps – including the Apple TV app – but only when the car is stopped to ensure safety. This improvement brings new fun for passengers when they are parked or waiting in the car for a while. (Hooray for parents in the school pickup line!)

Third-party AI functions come to CarPlay

CarPlay for the first time will provide access to third-party AI services such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude.

Audio Zoom in Camera software

At this point, the Camera app activates Audio Zoom. When recording video, the microphone focuses on the subject as you get closer, reducing background noise and increasing clarity. This makes it easy to record speeches, performances, or interviews without external audio equipment.

In addition, the Ambient Music feature is now available via a widget, allowing users to instantly play background music designed for watching, sleeping, or relaxing directly from the Home Screen, instead of just the Control Center as before. The show, first be explained in iOS 18.4, they added a variety of rotating sounds to navigate in categories such as Sleep, Cool, Creativity, and Quality.

“Quick” Reminders

There’s also a new “Urgent” section in the Reminders app that categorizes the most important tasks and can trigger popular notifications when the time comes. Setting the reminder as Urgent will add an alarm to make sure you never miss the event.

And More…

Some smaller ones include:

• The new Apple Account Hub in the App Store, Apple Music, and other Apple apps, replaces the previously used “profile”.
• New animation in the Messages app when you write a message.
• An Updated Wallpaper Gallery which separates different groups in a new way; A similar feature has also returned to the Apple Watch Face Gallery. The new version includes sections for Weather, Astronomy, Emjoi and more, among other changes.
• Apple Music lets you add songs to multiple playlists at once.
• Health program he adds A new metric: Average Sleep Time, which shows how much time you slept in the last two weeks. The Vitals section was also has been changed including the Blood oxygen level on a daily graph.
• Freefrom adds a Content Hub to Creator Studio subscribers, giving them access to the latest AI and cutting-edge art. His logo was also changed.
• The Personal Hotspot is now visible includes The Data Usage section shows how much data sent to your device by Apple and non-Apple devices has been using your data.
• Live Captions adds support for Chinese (Taiwan) under the language options.
• There is a new “Set Battery Charge Limit”. actions in Shortcuts.
• The App Store Search page is also at the top of the screen.
• The iCloud.com link takes center stage, displayed within the iCloud section of the Settings app. Previously, there was only a switch to “Get iCloud Data online.” Now, it’s more like a big deal for iCloud.

What is missing from this release is the next-generation Siri experience. Although Apple has shown the depth of the AI ​​for the voice assistant, these big changes it does not appear in iOS 26.4He says he was late again.