Apple’s iOS 26.4 arrives in public beta with AI music playlists, video podcasts, and more

Apple this week released the newest version of its mobile operating system, iOS 26.4, delivering a bundle of updates that include an AI-driven playlist creation tool for Apple Music, video support in the Podcasts app, end-to-end encryption (E2EE) testing for RCS messaging, and several other additions.

The software is now available as a public beta, and the broader public rollout is expected sometime in March or April.

Apple Music's AI playlist

One of the most visible changes lands in Apple Music. With iOS 26.4, Apple is introducing "Playlist Playground," an AI-powered feature powered by Apple Intelligence. It lets users create a personalized 25-song playlist using a simple text prompt — for example, "upbeat workout mix" or "calm evening." After the playlist is generated, users can tweak the results, adjust the vibe, and even choose cover art that matches the theme.

Apple Music's interface is also getting a visual refresh, now highlighting full-screen artwork for albums and playlists.

Concerts Near You

Apple Music is also adding a new "Concerts Near You" section, designed to help users find live performances from artists they already follow or listen to frequently. This section can be filtered by Date and Genre, and it also lets users change locations — useful when travelling or planning a trip.

Apple Podcasts video episodes

As Spotify continues to expand its video podcast strategy, Apple is bringing video to its own Podcasts app in iOS 26.4. With this update, listeners can move between audio and video versions of the same episode, switching smoothly as they prefer. Creators will be able to publish video podcasts using HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), and listeners can switch to a full horizontal viewing mode while watching.

At launch, video episodes will plug into Apple Podcasts' existing discovery features, including personalized recommendations and editorial selections across the New tab and Category pages — similar to how audio episodes are surfaced today.

HLS also supports automatic quality adjustments, helping video playback adapt whether a user is on Wi-Fi or cellular. Users will also be able to download video episodes for offline viewing. At launch, HLS support includes Acast, Amazon's ART19, Triton's Omny Studio, and SiriusXM, including SiriusXM Media, AdsWizz, and Simplecast.

Creators will additionally be able to insert dynamic video ads — including host-read placements — within their shows. Apple doesn't charge creators to distribute podcasts. Still, the company says that starting later this year, participating ad networks will need to pay an impression-based fee for delivering dynamic ads within HLS video podcasts.

Encrypted RCS messaging

Messaging is getting a notable security-focused step forward as encrypted Rich Communication Services (RCS) begins testing in iOS 26.4. Over time, end-to-end encryption for RCS conversations could help ensure that chats between iPhone and Android users have protections closer to iMessage.

For now, Apple says it's only testing this feature between iPhones in the beta. These chats will be labelled as encrypted and can't be read while in transit between devices. Apple adds that the capability will be released publicly in a later software update across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS, and that the beta experience won't be available on every device and carrier.

Stolen Device Detection is on by default.t

Security improvements are also a major theme in iOS 26.4. Stolen Device Protection is now enabled by default, adding additional biometric checks for sensitive actions, such as accessing saved passwords or making certain account-level changes. By requiring Face ID or Touch ID in more situations, Apple aims to reduce the chance of unauthorized access if a phone is stolen and the passcode is compromised.

CarPlay adds in-car video playback.

Apple CarPlay users willalso see a new entertainment option. CarPlay now supports video playback in select apps — including the Apple TV app — but only when the vehicle is parked, in line with safety requirements. This allows you to watch a video while waiting in the car, during stops, or while parked. (Parents stuck in the school pickup line may be especially grateful.)

Third-party AI services come to CarPlay.

For the first time, CarPlay will also support third-party AI services. Apple says iOS 26.4 brings access to tools such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and Anthropic's Claude through CarPlay.

Audio Zoom in Camera app

The Camera app is getting a practical upgrade called Audio Zoom. While recording video, the microphone will focus more on the subject as you zoom in, helping reduce surrounding noise and improving clarity. This could be especially useful for recording speeches, performances, interviews, or moments where you can't use external microphones.

Ambient Music widget

Another quality-of-life update involves Ambient Music. With iOS 26.4, Ambient Music can now be launched from a widget, allowing users to start soundscapes for focus, sleep, or relaxation directly from the Home Screen — not just from Control Centre as before. The feature originally arrived in iOS 18.4 and introduced ambient audio streams across categories like Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing.

"Urgent" reminders

Apple is also adding a new "Urgent" section in the Reminders app. This group's high-priority tasks can trigger more prominent alerts as deadlines get closer. Marking a reminder as Urgent will add an alarm so the task is harder to miss.

And more …

A collection of smaller additions is also included in iOS 26.4, such as:

• A new unified Apple Account Hub in the App Store, Apple Music, and other Apple apps, replacing the older "profile" area previously used.

• A new draft animation in Messages when you're composing a message.

• An updated Wallpaper Gallery that reorganizes categories; a similar redesign has also reached the Apple Watch Face Gallery. The gallery now includes sections like Weather, Astronomy, Emoji, and more, along with other tweaks.

• Apple Music now lets you add songs to multiple playlists in one step.

• The Health app adds a new metric called Average Bedtime, showing the average time you went to sleep over the past two weeks. The Vitals section was also updated to display blood oxygen levels on the daily graph.

• Freeform adds a Content Hub for Creator Studio subscribers, offering access to new AI features and high-quality art. Its app icon has been updated as well.

• Personal Hotspot now includes a Data Usage section that shows how much data has been shared and which Apple and non-Apple devices have used it.

• Live Captions now supports Chinese (Taiwan) in the language options.

• Shortcuts gets a new "Set Battery Charge Limit" action.

• The App Store's Search bar has returned to the top of the screen.

• The iCloud.com link in Settings is now displayed as a larger, featured section within the iCloud section. Previously, users mainly saw a toggle for "Access iCloud Data on the Web." Now it's displayed more prominently — closer to a featured callout for iCloud.

One thing that doesn't show up in this release is a next-generation Siri experience. Although Apple has repeatedly hinted at bigger AI plans for Siri, those changes are not included in iOS 26.4 and appear to be delayed again, according to reports.