iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4 Released With New AI Music Features, Emoji, and More [Download]

Apple has officially released iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4 to the public, bringing new artificial intelligence features to Apple Music, updates to Freeform, and several system refinements to the iPhone and iPad.

The update delivers a beta version of Playlist Playground, an AI tool that generates custom playlists complete with titles and descriptions based on text prompts. Apple Music also gains a Concerts section to help track nearby live shows, an Ambient Music widget for the Home Screen, and full-screen background artwork. On the iPhone, a new Control Center toggle allows for offline music recognition that automatically delivers results once an internet connection is restored.

Eight new emoji characters are now available on the keyboard, including an orca, a trombone, a landslide, a ballet dancer, and a distorted face. Freeform receives a premium content library and advanced image editing tools as it integrates into the Apple Creator Studio subscription. Apple also addressed a common Family Sharing complaint by adding Purchase Sharing, which lets adult family members use their own payment methods instead of billing the family organizer. Reminders can now be marked as urgent directly from the Quick Toolbar and filtered within Smart Lists.

iPad users gain a compact tab bar option in Safari to free up browsing space, alongside a new indicator that appears when switching to an app with minimized or hidden windows. Both operating systems feature accessibility improvements, including relocated subtitle controls and a toggle to minimize bright flashes on interface elements. The iPhone update also more reliably scales back animations tied to Apple’s Liquid Glass design for users sensitive to screen motion.

The testing cycle for this release included end-to-end encryption for RCS chats with Android users and support for third-party AI apps in CarPlay. However, the major generative AI overhaul for Siri originally anticipated for this spring is absent, following reports that those upgrades were delayed due to internal performance snags.

Release Notes:
The full release notes can be found here:
● iOS 26.4 Release Notes
● iPadOS 26.4 Release Notes

Where to Download
Users can download the software over the air by navigating to the Software Update menu in Settings. Direct links for manual installations are available on our iPhone Firmware and iPad Firmware pages, or you can quickly locate the right file using the iClarified IPSW Wizard.