The biggest update since iOS 26?Here's what's new in iOS 26.4 –

Your iPhone gets new emojis, video podcasts and more.

A week after the tech giant released iOS 26.3.1(a), Apple released iOS 26.4 on March 24, the company's first background security update update.The latest update brings more features to your iPhone, including new emoji and video podcasts, as well as over two dozen bug fixes and security patches.

You can download iOS 26.4 now by going to Settings and tapping "General."Next, select Software Update, click Update Now, and follow the on-screen prompts.

Here are some of the new features that iOS 26.4 brings to your iPhone.

iOS 26.4 brings eight new emoji to your iPhone:

- Fighting in the clouds

- Face distortion

- Ballerina

- Treasure chest

- Hairy animals (Sasquatch)

Emojis were created by the Unicode Consortium, which approved these eight in September as part of Unicode 17.0.But this is the first time that emojis have appeared on iPhones.

Video podcasts coming to Apple Podcasts

The iOS 26.4 update also brings video to your Podcasts app.To view these video podcasts, open the Podcasts app and start listening to an episode using the video player icon in the upper right corner of the title card.When you're listening, open the media player and tap the Play Video button near the podcast progress bar.The podcast artwork will be replaced by a video.To turn the video off again, tap Turn Video On and the podcast image will return.

Reduce some liquid glass effects on your device

Apple's iOS 26.4 update adds another feature to reduce the effects of Apple Glass on your device: Reduce glare effects.This is where to find this setting.

1. Click on "Settings".

2. Tap Accessibility.

3. Splitting 'collaborative text and size.

4. Scroll down the menu to find Reduce Bright Effects.

Apple says the system will reduce brightness and contrast when dealing with on-screen elements, such as buttons or the keyboard.So if you find some annoying flash elements, you can remove them now.

Playlist on Apple Music

The iOS 26.4 update also introduces a collection of playlists for Apple Music publishers called Playlist Playground.Apple says the feature can create playlists based on your situation.Once you upload your profile, a playlist will be created with a title, playlist and general information.

To access Playlist Playground, you must first be an Apple Music subscriber. Next, open Apple Music and go to your Library. In Library, you'll see a new icon at the top of your screen with a plus sign and a few lines next to it. Tap it to describe the playlist.

Apple notes that this feature is still in beta, so it may produce unexpected results.You can put on a good gym mix and get some Whitney Houston -- but who says Whitney isn't good gym music?

Find concerts near you with the specified Concert feature

iOS 26.4 brings music functionality to the Apple Music app.

"Concerts helps you discover nearby shows from artists in your library and recommends new artists based on what you've heard," Apple writes in the update's description.So you can easily find shows near you.

To search for concerts, tap the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the Apple Music screen, then tap Concerts.The app may ask for your location the first time you use it.You can then see popular shows nearby with dates, times and locations.Touch any of the shows to get more information about the show and a link to buy tickets.

Shazam works offline

In iOS 26.4, your Shazam Control Center app can work in different ways.Now, if you are not connected to the Internet and use the Control Center app to identify a song, the app will finally tell you the song ID when you reconnect to the network.

Ambient music home screen widgets

Apple introduced two new Ambient Music widgets to your home screen with iOS 26.4.These widgets allow you to play four ambient music playlists: sleep; cool down; easy access to productivity and health. You can quickly open a casual playlist to relax after a long day. Or it can help you focus on your current work.

Apple introduced these playlists to your iPhone in 2024 with iOS 18.4.However, at the time you could only access these playlists from your Control Center.

Have other adults in your family pay for themselves

In iOS 26.4, other adults in your Family Sharing group can now use their own payment method instead of depending on the group organizer's payment method.This means that if you're an adult and have a Family Group to share with your parents, siblings, or other family members, you can now buy a game, movie, or something else with your data instead of using someone else's information and then paying them back.

This is a useful feature that allows you to avoid the risk of being charged for using someone else's payment information.If you use their card all the time, this can be a good way to make sure other people pay for their stuff and don't let you get away with it.

Multiple caption options when watching videos

With iOS 26.4, you can easily change the subtitle style when watching content in some apps, such as Apple TV.

To see these options, start playing a video and then tap the speech bubble icon in the lower-right corner of the screen to open the subtitles menu.Tap Style and you'll see the subtitle options Classic (the default setting), Large Text, Outline Text and Transparent Background.So if you and a few others are watching something on your iPhone and you want to make sure that everyone can see the captions, you can choose Large Text.

More control over the wallpaper collection

The iOS 26.4 update also gives you more control over the wallpaper Collections on your iPhone.Now, if you go to Settings > Wallpaper > Add New Wallpaper, you can Find Collections like Weather and Astronomy.

If you want to delete a collection from your device, tap the icon to the right of the downloaded collection and the Remove from Gallery option will appear.Tap it to delete the collection from your iPhone, saving valuable space.

Here are the release notes for iOS 26.4.

- Playlist Playground (beta) generates a playlist from its description, complete with title, description and tracklist.

- Music tracks help you find upcoming shows in the library and recommend new artists based on what you're listening to.

- Offline music recognition and control center that detects music without an Internet connection and automatically provides results when you come back online.

- Ambient Music widget for sleep, relaxation, productivity and wellness brings customized playlists to your home screen.

- Full screen background gives album pages and playlists a more attractive look.

- The Reduce Brightness Effect setting reduces the brightness when you tap on elements such as buttons.

- Title and subtitle settings are accessible via the title icon when viewing media, making it easy to search, customize, and preview.

- Reduced motion settings reduce the reliability of the liquid glass screen for people sensitive to screen movement.

This update also includes the following improvements:

- Support for AirPods Max 2.

- Emoji Keyboard includes eight new emojis, including orca, trombone, landslide, ballet dancer and distorted face.

- Freeform gains advanced image creation and editing tools and a library of premium content by joining Apple's Creator Studio.

- Mark urgent reminders with the urgent toolbar or by tapping and holding and filtering urgent reminders from your smart lists.

- Buy Partner allows adult members of family partner groups to use their own payment method when shopping, without relying on a family author.

- Improved keyboard accuracy when typing quickly.

For more information on iOS, see the features available in iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.2.For more tips and tricks, check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet.