Apple Releases iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4 with New Emoji, Generative AI Features for Apple Music, Accessibility Enhancements, and More

Apple has today released iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4 to the public, bringing new emoji, enhancements to Apple Music, including AI playlist creation and a new Apple Music widget, several accessibility enhancements, and more.

Accessibility Changes for Blind, Deaf Blind, and Low Vision Users

New Features and Changes

iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4 include the following new features for blind, deaf blind, and low vision users:

• Touch Curtain prevents the touch screen from receiving any input when a braille display is connected, which may be useful in preventing accidental touches from performing unintended actions. This can be toggled on and off by pressing Space with dots one, two, three, four, five, six, and eight on a Perkins Style Keyboard, and similar to Sound Curtain, can be turned off by pressing both volume buttons for five seconds. This feature can also be toggled in Settings>Accessibility>VoiceOver>Braille.
• New commands to move to the next and previous text field have been introduced. These commands have no default touch or keyboard assignments, but can be mapped in Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Commands> All Commands > Advanced Navigation. For users of Perkins-style keyboards, these can be configured by going to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Braille, focusing on the device name, and selecting the "Commands" rotor action.
• There is a new "reduce bright effects" toggle designed to "minimize highlighting and flashing when interacting with onscreen elements," according to Apple. This feature can be found in Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size. Our team has not been able to independently verify the efficacy of this setting.
• Improvements have been made to the Reduce Motion option to more reliably reduce animation of Liquid Glass elements. Our team has not been able to independently verify the efficacy of this change.

New Bugs

We are currently aware of one new accessibility bug in these releases:

• The lyrics for the currently playing song in Apple Music are no longer accessible with VoiceOver, with only the word "button" being spoken in their place. We would like to thank AppleVis user KE8UPE for bringing this issue to our attention via our Community Bug Program.

Resolved Bugs

Our experience is that the following accessibility bug has been resolved in iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4:

• It is once again possible to locate the toolbar with VoiceOver when composing an email in Mail.

Additionally, our testing suggests that when typing text with a braille display, there has been a marginal improvement in the issue where letters are lost.

If you notice any further changes, improvements, or regressions in your use of these releases, please post a comment below with your findings.

Release Notes

iOS 26.4

This update introduces Playlist Playground and Concerts in Apple Music, and 8 new emoji, along with other features, bug fixes, and security updates for your iPhone

Apple Music

• Playlist Playground (beta) generates a playlist from your description, complete with a title, description, and tracklist
• Concerts helps you discover nearby shows from artists in your library and recommends new artists based on what you listen to
• Offline Music Recognition in Control Center identifies songs without an internet connection and delivers results automatically when you're back online
• Ambient Music widget for Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing brings curated playlists to the Home Screen
• Full screen backgrounds give album and playlist pages a more immersive look

Accessibility

• Reduce bright effects setting minimizes bright flashes when tapping on elements like buttons
• Subtitle and caption settings are available from the captions icon while viewing media, making them easier to find, customize, and preview
• Reduce Motion setting more reliably reduces the animations of Liquid Glass for users sensitive to on screen motion

This update also includes the following enhancements:

• 8 new emoji including an orca, trombone, landslide, ballet dancer, and distorted face are available in the emoji keyboard
• Freeform gains advanced image creation and editing tools, and a premium content library, joining Apple Creator Studio
• Mark reminders as urgent from the Quick Toolbar or by touching and holding, and filter for urgent reminders in your Smart Lists
• Purchase Sharing lets adult members in Family Sharing groups use their own payment method when making purchases, without relying on the family organizer
• Improved keyboard accuracy when typing quickly

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit: https://support.apple.com/100100

Some features may not be available in all regions or on all iPhone models. To learn more, please visit: https://www.apple.com/ios/feature-availability/

Software updates, like this one, add new features and improvements that may affect performance and/or battery life. To learn more, please visit: https://support.apple.com/125039

iPadOS 26.4

This update introduces Playlist Playground and Concerts in Apple Music, and 8 new emoji, along with other features, bug fixes, and security updates for your iPad.

Apple Music

• Playlist Playground (beta) generates a playlist from your description, complete with a title, description, and tracklist
• Concerts helps you discover nearby shows from artists in your library and recommends new artists based on what you listen to
• Ambient Music widget for Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing brings curated playlists to the Home Screen
• Full screen backgrounds give album and playlist pages a more immersive look

Accessibility

• Reduce bright effects in Accessibility Settings limits bright flashes on UI elements when tapped
• Subtitle and caption settings are easier to find when viewing media, with real-time preview available directly from the captions icon

This update also includes the following enhancements:

• 8 new emoji including an orca, trombone, landslide, ballet dancer, and distorted face are available in the emoji keyboard
• Compact tab bar option in Safari gives you more space to browse and lets you search directly from the active tab
• Open window indicator appears when you switch to an app with hidden or minimized windows
• Freeform gains advanced image creation and editing tools, and a premium content library, joining Apple Creator Studio
• Mark reminders as urgent from the Quick Toolbar or by touching and holding, and filter for urgent reminders in your Smart Lists
• Purchase Sharing lets adult members in Family Sharing groups use their own payment method when making purchases, without relying on the family organizer

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit: https://support.apple.com/100100

Some features may not be available in all regions or on all iPad models. To learn more, please visit: https://www.apple.com/ios/feature-availability/

Software updates, like this one, add new features and improvements that may affect performance and/or battery life. To learn more, please visit: https://support.apple.com/125039

How to Update

iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4 are available via Over-the-Air Update (Settings > General > Software Update), via Finder on a Mac with macOS Catalina or later, or via iTunes on a PC or Mac with macOS Mojave or earlier.

Before updating, we strongly recommend making a full and complete backup of your device (either locally or in iCloud, depending on personal preference). This will ensure that, in the unlikely event that something goes wrong during the update process, you will have a current backup on hand in case a device restore becomes necessary. Also, if using OTA update, we recommend plugging your device into a power source for the duration of the download/installation process, so as to prevent the unlikely event of your battery going dead during the update.