For over a billion iPhone users worldwide, Apple‘s annual iOS software updates unlock exciting new capabilities to integrate into daily life. iOS 16 brought major changes like a customizable lock screen when it launched in September 2022. Now with the release of iOS 16.4, Apple is back with a fresh round of enhancements for communications, entertainment, accessibility, productivity and more across the iPhone lineup.
Let‘s dive deeper into 14 of the most notable new features and optimizations available once you update to iOS 16.4.
At a Glance: Key iOS 16.4 Updates
Here is a high level overview of the updates covered in more detail throughout the article:
| New Emojis | 31 new emojis supported including animals, household objects and more |
| FaceTime Voice Isolation | Machine learning feature filters background noise for clearer call audio |
| Apple Music Refinements | Subtle but convenient interface improvements like less disruptive notifications |
| Customizable Book Page Animations | Reader preferences empowered to show page flip curl effects or not |
| Up Next Podcast Queue | Improved episode queue management features |
| Safari Web Notification Support | Websites can now send alerts and updates directly |
| Duplicate Photo Detection and Merge | Powerful utility finds and handles duplicate shots within Photos app |
| Optimized Crash and Fall Detection | Accuracy refinements reduce cases of false positive emergency calls |
| Accessibility Enhancements | Videos can auto dim if containing flashing lights or strobe effects |
| PS5 DualSense Controller Support | Play games with precision controller paired over Bluetooth |
| Focus Filtering for Always-On Display | Focus modes can now toggle disabling the Always-On screen |
| Wallet Transaction Filtering | Review payment history by date ranges, purchases vs. refunds etc. |
| Bug Fixes & Refinements | Optimizations for UI responsiveness, Apple Pencil and reliability |
Now let‘s explore details on each update to help you determine which new capabilities might prove most valuable in your everyday use.
1. Express Yourself with 31 New Emojis
iOS 16.4 adds dozens of new emoji including practical objects like a mirror, sprinkles and an incense burner alongside cute animals such as a goose, deer and blackbird. These give users even more options for adding visual flair to messages and social posts.
Emojis have exploded in popularity worldwide since first appearing in the late 1990s. They now comprise over 90% of all written communication according to Adobe Analytics surveys. Users appreciate emojis as quick descriptive shortcuts. They convey emotional tone that can be lost or misinterpreted in written words.
Apple stays on the pulse of culture by rapidly adopting new emojis approved by the Unicode Consortium each year. By supporting the latest emojis as soon as possible, iPhones maintain compatibility and relevance in digital expression. iOS 16.4 ensures you have access to the new flute, shaking face, pink heart and more emojis catching on across smartphones and websites.
(Emojigraph chart via Emojipedia)
2. Background Noise Reduction for Clearer FaceTime Calls
The new voice isolation capability leverages Apple‘s expertise in on-device machine learning to actively filter out ambient sounds during FaceTime video or audio calls. Using the built-in microphone, iPhone isolates the user‘s voice from background chatter and other noise that often frustrates smooth communication.
FaceTime remains among the most ubiquitous video chat apps thanks to seamless integration across Apple‘s ecosystem. However, loud environments have always hampered call quality. Attempting a conversation with construction clatter outside or kids shouting in the next room simply leaves both sides frustrated and struggling to understand each other.
Now voice isolation solves this via real-time audio processing. Machine learning categorizes incoming noises then applies targeted filters to mute the surrounding cacophony. Tests show remarkable improvements in eliminating chaotic soundscapes for the person on the other end. They hear only your speech coming through crystal clearly as if in a quiet room. This makes communication effortless despite hectic households or workplaces.
Apple continues pushing FaceTime as the optimal video chat solution for iPhone owners by augmenting it with handy features. In a single tap, you can leverage the machine learning power built right into recent iPhone models for immediately better call comprehension.
3. Apple Music Notifications Get More Discreet
Despite Jobs proclaiming that apps don‘t need always-on notifications "yapping at you", the reality is that many apps do benefit from updates and live status changes. Least disruptive among these are temporary banners alerting you to relevant activity without hijacking the full screen.
Apple Music already employed banners for instances like songs finishing playback. But adding a track to your Up Next queue inexplicably launched an annoying full screen popup. iOS 16.4 switches this to banners for consistency and reducing interruption. You still get confirmation the song successfully added without losing app context.
Additionally, Music gains a dedicated profile button atop the screen. Rather than needing to scroll and tap through cover art to access your listening history, playlists and profile management, Apple now offers one-tap access. Expect profile usage to increase accordingly thanks to this prioritization.
As Apple Music grows beyond 100 million subscribers, outpacing Spotify in some markets like the United States, optimization like this smoothes workflows for the service‘s most active users. Apple‘s attention to detail shines through with tweaks that simply get out of the way.
4. Customizable Page Turning Makes a Comeback in Books
This next update resolves a surprisingly contentious change in iOS 16 – the removal of page turn animations within the Apple Books e-reader app. Since inception, Apple Books simulated paper with a curling page effect when swiping to the next page. But iOS 16 did away with that in favor of instant transitions.
While likely intended to make pagination snappier, this move proved unpopular with certain bibliophiles and power readers. Enough complaints seem to have reached Apple engineers about subtracting touch charm. Customization comes to the rescue in iOS 16.4!
A new settings section for Books offers three page transition effects:
Default – Mirrors current system animation style
Curl – Restores classic curl from page corner
Slide – Animates sliding pages across
Supporting user choice for experiences related to reading feels smart. Our brains perceive information differently when presented physically versus digitally. Allowing custom animations caters to different cognitive needs.
Global adoption for ebooks continues rising steadily, making up over 25% of fiction sales as of 2021. With a sizeable subset still favoring the familiar tactile sensation, Apple‘s flexibility keeps this contingent happy while iOS 16 database-style metadata management entices relative digital neophytes.
5. Podcast Queue Now More Accessible
Podcast adoption has climbed dramatically with over 40% of Americans listening monthly. Well aware of this trend, Apple aims to optimize podcast consumption via iOS 16.4 upgrades focused on queue management.
Finding your full playlist of upcoming episodes to resume or reprioritize used to require tapping into profile settings and navigating across multiple screens. The Podcasts app now surfaces a shortcut button labeled Up Next directly within your library view.
The Up Next screen lets you quickly:
- Resume paused episodes
- Skip to the next queued episode
- Clear the queue entirely
- Reorder episodes via drag and drop
Not groundbreaking changes, but significantly streamlining these common actions allows more frictionless podcast queuing for heavy listeners. As audio storytelling continues rising alongside episodic interview formats, having robust controls for sequentially playing through a series matters greatly.
6. Web Notifications Arrive for Safari on iOS
Websites have offered push notifications for awhile now across Android and desktop browsers. But Apple only now enablesSafari on iOS to receive website notifications in this update. When visiting pages, iOS 16.4 triggers permission dialogs to enable notifications from the domain.
Once granted for a specific site, users can opt to receive alerts about:
- New articles or posts published
- Live blogs and breaking news updates
- Forums and comment threads they‘re following
- Chat or messaging apps within web apps
- Shopping websites and more
Of course with all alerts, moderation remains wise. Setting notifications for too many sites and services risks notification overload. But selective use can certainly keep users abreast of dynamic web content they check frequently anyway at the cost of distracting context switching. Offering this web capability brings iOS up to speed with alternative mobile and desktop browsers.
7. Smarter Detection and Resolution of Duplicate Photos
Over years of amassing photos and videos, duplication becomes almost inevitable. Most users end up with duplicates scattered across albums and libraries due to processes like:
- Importing photos from multiple devices like phones, digital cameras, or SD cards
- Syncing the same images across cloud services
- Saving received files multiple times
- Bulk migration across phones or backups
Duplicates waste precious storage quota for marginal utility. While simple image management apps can identify these based on file matching, Apple goes further in iOS 16/16.4 by applying on-device intelligence to recognize duplicates based on image content even if captions or metadata differ across copies.
The Photos app Duplicate Detection utility surfaces clusters of likely duplicates, empowering you to rapidly analyze similarities and make merge or delete decisions. This helps considerably with resolving redundant shots you previously needed third party apps to properly handle.
Photos also now detects and merges duplicates found in shared iCloud libraries. So for instance if grandma shares her growing collection with family members, they collectively create a more consolidated view saving everyone space.
Documenting life‘s occasions and milestones inevitably means capturing multiple takes. iOS 16‘s robust duplicate filtering reconciles the copious output from our cameras so we can better cherish the events themselves in organized libraries.
8. Emergency Safety Features Get Smarter
Among Apple Watch and iPhone‘s most celebrated features are automatic protections detecting car crashes or debilitating falls then notifying emergency services on your behalf when urgent intervention remains necessary but impossible to manually request.
However real world usage surfaced unexpected edge cases. Last year brought headlines of iPhone 14 models triggering crash detection falsely due to accelerated G forces and air pressure fluctuations experienced on roller coasters. This caused unnecessary 911 contact irritating park operators.
Thankfully Apple treats all feedback as validation data to rapidly improve ML models and tune sensor fusion underlying these algorithms. While life saving when functioning properly, false positives erode user trust considerably.
Analyzing these outliers from roller coasters and similar scenarios allows Apple to optimize reliability in iOS 16.4. Your iPhone now better discerns normal play or transportation forces from the unique signatures of dangerous crashes. Updates also improve Apple Watch based detection for instances of falling then remaining motionless.
Continuously upping accuracy and precision for these features remains imperative as they expand across devices like AirPods earbuds. Users need absolute confidence in background safety assurances as environments evolve. Apple is committed to responsibly advancing on-device intelligence to protect lives while avoiding misuse.
9. Videos Can Now Auto Dim for Visual Sensitivity
Expanding assistive capabilities for those facing disabilities remains an important pursuit across Apple products and services. iOS 16.4 introduces a couple new accommodations enhancing experiences for certain users.
Specifically when consuming video or animated content, the iPhone can now recognize visual effects like flashing lights, high contrast colors and strobe effects that negatively impact some viewers dealing with sensitivity. Upon detecting these patterns, an Auto Screen Dimming is applied temporarily to ease ocular discomfort by reducing white point intensity.
This showcases Apple‘s leadership in responsive design supporting diversity of life experiences. While going unnoticed by many customers, examples like video auto dimming meaningfully empowers those managing visual or neurological conditions. Mainstream users benefit indirectly when platforms advance to most inclusively adapt to users rather than expecting users to adapt "normally" to inflexible systems.
iOS 16.4 moves interactions further towards empowering every user with conversions orchestrated by helpful hardware/software capabilities.
10. PlayStation 5 Controllers Gain Native Support
Game controller support has steadily improved across Apple‘s ecosystem allowing console-quality gameplay with connected gamepads. Now in iOS 16.4, Apple adds integrated profiles for the popular PlayStation 5 DualSense controller including newer Edge model just released.
Pairing PS5 controllers is as seamless as connecting AirPods. Just press the pairing button and tap the gamepad prompt confirming the secure connection. Low latency Bluetooth linkage offers precise response for controlling compatible titles.
Support couldn‘t arrive sooner with Apple Arcade growing its 100+ game catalog packed with graphical marvels benefiting from external physical controls. PS5‘s adaptive triggers and haptic feedback take immersion up a notch if developers implement thoughtfully.
Mobile gaming continues encroaching on console and PC gaming thanks to advances like controller integration once considered inferior on mobile. Apple helps erase remaining experiential gaps for users enjoying AAA flexibility.
11. Always-On Display Can Now Filter by Focus Mode
The iPhone 14 Pro series introduced an eagerly anticipated Always-On Display with widgets persistently visible and notifications subtly popping in without unlocking. It makes information dashboards continuously glanceable minus interruption.
However, discipline remains vital for managing potential distraction outside working hours when applications compete aggressively for habit forming eyeballs.
Helpfully, iOS 16.4 links Always-On Display with existing Focus Modes for scheduling or applying situational filters. Your customized Work Focus can permit the Always-On screen during those contexts while muting it under your designated Relaxation Focus. Disabling Always-On while Sleep Focus activates also makes perfect sense for many users fixing boundaries.
This integration thoughtfully empowers users intending their devices to better conform capabilities matching mental and emotional states moment to moment. Checking widgets less during leisure may feel unthinkable for some. But Apple equips those recognizing occasional information fasting as crucial for presence and self-care.
12. Improved Wallet Transaction Filtering
Apple Pay mobile transactions firmly entered the everyday transactional zeitgeist thanks to COVID contactless payments. As consumers now habitually tap to purchase, having transparency into associated purchase histories brings peace of mind.
iOS 16.4 adds helpful filters to the Wallet Transactions view including:
- Date range
- Travel related purchases
- Disputed charges
- Refunds
- Card-specific histories
This grants users clearer insights apply across personal finance apps. Responsibly tracking where money moves offers the first step to mindful budgeting.
We may take conveniences like Apple Pay for granted. But their ubiquity results from aligning affording trust and security with users needing accountability sometimes sacrificed. iOS 16.4 goes further to reconciling transactions and spending cues.
13. Miscellaneous refinements and bug fixes
While major highlights like emoji support understandably dominate headlines, Apple‘s relentless software quality pursuits manifest through subtler reliability and performance gains. We‘ll briefly cover a few other notable improvements shipping within iOS 16.4.
Faster Apple Pencil responsiveness
Latency reductions and rasterization optimizations combine for snappier Apple Pencil performance when sketching or annotating documents within iPadOS 16.4. Sharper response times enhance drawing fluidity.
Notification UI fixes
iOS 16 had several graphical glitches around notification cards improperly switching between square and rounded corners at times. 16.4 smooths the notifications interface for unambiguously crisp presentation.
Ask to Buy fix
The Communication Limits feature allowing children to request app/media purchases subject to parent approval had reliability issues around sync. Purchase requests should now appear more consistently across family member devices as intended.
Summary
Across enhanced emoji support, communications clarity, duplicate reductions and accessibility, iOS 16.4 rounds out the user experience for all iPhone owners. Apple devices so readily fade into the background precisely thanks to this relentless refinement lifting burdens while unlocking delight. With over 1 billion active iPhones globally, even modest optimizations scale tremendously.
