A few days after releasing iOS 18.4 Beta 1, Apple has now launched the first Public Beta version for general users. The Public Beta was actually expected to be released next week. However, after experiencing issues with iOS 18.4 Beta 1, Apple seems to have moved up the schedule.
iOS 18.4 Public Beta 1 Update and New Apple Intelligence Features
All beta users can now download the iOS 18.4 Public Beta 1 version. As you know, the iOS 18.4 Developer Beta was pulled back from the iPhone 12 series. The iPad 8, iPad Air 4th Generation, and M2 iPad Air 11 and 13-inch versions were also affected by this issue.
The new features introduced with Developer Beta 1 are now available to general beta users with iOS 18.4 Public Beta 1. Apple usually keeps a one-week gap between the two versions to receive enough feedback from developers.
So what features does iOS 18.4 Public Beta highlight? First of all, as everyone predicted, iOS 18.4 focused on Apple Intelligence features. Accordingly, Apple Intelligence has started supporting ten new languages: Simplified Chinese, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish, including localized English for Singapore and India. As you know, until now Apple Intelligence features were only available in English.
With this language update, EU countries will also be able to access Apple Intelligence features for iPhone and iPad. Apple is expected to release the stable version of the iOS 18.4 update in early April. Whether Turkish will be added to Apple Intelligence after these updates is also a matter of curiosity.
Priority notifications: Now you can see your prioritized notifications in a separate place in the control center. You can enable this setting by selecting the notifications you want from Settings > Notifications > Priority notifications.
The sketch view for Image Playground (the AI image creation tool) introduced at WWDC has also been added. It’s also now possible to add sleep, relaxation, productivity, and health Ambient music categories to the control center.
The Public Beta did not come with the expected Siri upgrades. These upgrades will provide AI support for Siri. It’s unclear whether three important features such as screen awareness, in-app actions, and personal context understanding will come with iOS 18.4. Mark Gurman believes these features will come with iOS 18.5.
How to install iOS 18.4 Public Beta:
- If you’re not a Beta user, you need to click Sign Up on the Apple Beta page.
- Sign in to the Beta Software Program.
- Click Register your iOS device.
- Follow Settings > General > Software Update
- Select iOS Public Beta in the Beta Updates section.
- If you’ve just registered, it may take some time for the beta option to appear in the Software Update section.
