Apple releases final build of iOS 17.4 with new emoji, CarPlay update and App Store changes for EU

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Apple has confirmed it will release the final version of iOS 17.4, officially moving the software update out of beta. iOS 17.4 is full of changes, including new emoji characters, podcast transcriptions, virtual Apple Cash card numbers, and more. The update also addresses EU Digital Markets Act regulations, supports competing app marketplaces, and other changes where needed.

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Summary

Release Notes

Availability

Summary

iOS 17.4 emoji characters add new ways to express approval or rejection, break through chains, rise from the ashes, or simply show that limes are superior to lemons. There's also a mushroom that looks less like Mario and more like a grocery store.

New emoji characters are also available in macOS 14.4 for Mac, watchOS 10.4 for Apple Watch, and iPadOS 17.4 for iPad. For Apple Vision Pro owners, they appear in VisionOS 1.1.

CarPlay in iOS 17.4 includes a new way to present Apple Maps data on vehicles with secondary instrument cluster displays.

Prior to iOS 17.4, on the primary the display showed street-level directions, and the instrument cluster showed an overview of your route while navigating.

Starting with iOS 17.4, vehicles with instrument cluster displays can switch the primary display between a street-level view and a route view. Switching modes changes which view appears on which screen.

Essentially, this means turn-by-turn directions can now be displayed behind the steering wheel rather than in Overview mode. Most CarPlay implementations use a single display with a toggle to switch between views.

Other changes include automatically generated transcripts in Apple Podcasts, a new Stolen Device Protection setting, and a setting to ignore double taps on Apple Watch. when using Vision Pro and much more.

Release Notes

Top Comment by Matthew B. Tepper

Liked by 0 people

There are two changes to CarPlay that I think are significant. First: an incoming call should occupy a minimum amount of space on the display, like on an iPhone, and not the entire damn screen, hiding everything that is there, such as a map. Second: full integration of Apple Music Classical (which itself needs some improvements). Compared to them, a bunch of new wallpapers don't matter at all.

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Emoji

New mushroom, phoenix, lime, broken chain and shaking heads emoji are now available on the keyboard emoji.
18 people, and body emojis have added the ability to look at them in any direction.

Apple Podcasts

Transcripts let you follow an episode with text highlighted in sync with audio in English, Spanish, French, and German.
You can read the entire episode, search by word or phrase, tap to play from a specific point, and used with accessibility features such as text size, contrast enhancement, and VoiceOver.

This update includes the following improvements and bug fixes:

Music recognition allows you to add songs you define to Apple Music playlists and library, as well as Apple Music Classical.
Siri has a new ability to announce messages you receive in any supported language.
Stolen Device Protection supports enhanced security everywhere.
Battery status in Settings shows the number of battery charge cycles, manufacturing date, and date of first use on iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models.
Call ID displays your Apple-verified business name, logo, and department name when available.
Business updates in Messages for Business provide reliable information about order status, flight notifications, fraud alerts, or other transactions , to which you agree.
Apple Cash virtual card numbers let you pay with Apple Cash at merchants who don't yet accept Apple Pay by entering your number from Wallet or using Safari autofill.
Fixed an issue where contact images were blank. in Find My
Fixed an issue for dual SIM users where the phone number would change from primary to secondary and be visible to the group they sent the message to.