Apple has released updates for several of its operating systems, but the updates to iOS have had the biggest influence, at least in the EU. Apple is now following the stringent new regulations in the bloc regarding the App Store with the release of iOS 17.4. On iPhones in the EU, Apple now formally supports third-party app stores, and developers are free to provide third-party payment methods. Web browser developers are no longer need to build their apps upon Apple’s WebKit, and Apple is allowing wireless payments unrelated to Apple Pay to use the NFC chip.
iOS 17.4 offers some amazing new features for anyone outside of the EU, even though those game-changing changes are only available in the EU. Automatic transcriptions are now available in English, Spanish, French, and German on Apple Podcasts. For ease of navigation, the words will be highlighted in time with the audio. The text will be searchable, and you can tap it to launch the audio at a certain moment.
Elsewhere, there are a bunch of new emoji for you to enjoy. They include a mushroom, phoenix, lime, broken chain and shaking heads. Apple has also updated 18 people and body emoji so that you can face them in either direction.
Other updates concern features like battery health, Siri (with the ability to read received messages in any supported language), stolen device protection and virtual card numbers for Apple Cash. Thanks to a caller ID update, when am Apple-verified business calls, you’ll see its name, logo and department title. There are a slew of bug fixes too.
Along with iOS 17.4, Apple has also released iPadOS 17.4, which has many of the same changes including the App Store updates to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act. The company is also expected to roll out visionOS 1.1 (for Apple Vision Pro), macOS 14.4, watchOS 10.4 and HomePod 17.4 imminently.
