iOS 18.4 update coming soon: Apple News+ Food, Ambient Music and new AI features expected

Apple has announced the launch of Apple News+ Food, a new section dedicated to food-related content, set to arrive with the iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 update in April, reported Macrumors.

Available to Apple News+ subscribers, this feature will provide access to tens of thousands of recipes, along with articles on dining, healthy eating, and kitchen essentials from renowned publishers such as Allrecipes, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Good Food, and Serious Eats.

Key Features of iOS 18.4

Priority Notifications

As per the report, the update could introduce a new Apple Intelligence feature that prioritises important notifications, surfacing them directly on the Lock Screen. This functionality can be enabled in the Settings app under Notifications → Prioritise Notifications. Notably, Apple Intelligence requires an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any iPhone 16 model.

Apple News+ Food

The new Food section within Apple News will allow users to browse, search, and filter recipes through the Recipe Catalog, with new entries added daily. The design features an intuitive layout for reviewing ingredients and directions, while a dedicated cook mode enables step-by-step guidance in full-screen format. Users can also save recipes for offline access.

Apple News+ is available in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The service, priced at $12.99 per month in the US, is also part of the Apple One Premier bundle, which costs $37.95 per month and includes other Apple services.

Ambient Music

A new Ambient Music feature will also be added to the Control Centre, allowing users to access curated playlists across four categories: Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing.

Additional Enhancements

The iOS 18.4 update extends Apple Intelligence support to more languages, including French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified), English (Singapore), and English (India). The Image Playground feature will include a new “Sketch” drawing style, alongside “Animation” and “Illustration.”

CarPlay users with vehicles featuring large dashboard displays will benefit from an additional row of app icons on a single page. Additionally, European users will be able to set a default maps app, such as Google Maps, while all users worldwide will have the option to set a default translation app.

Features Expected in Later Updates

Vision Pro App

A new Apple Vision Pro app will be introduced, allowing users to download Vision Pro apps and games, access Apple TV content, find usage tips, and manage their device more effectively. This app will be available once iOS 18.4 is officially released and can also be downloaded from the App Store.

New Emoji

Following Apple’s tradition of adding new emoji with major updates, iOS 18.4 is expected to include fresh emoji, as indicated by code found by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris.

Apple has already rolled out the first beta version of iOS 18.4 for developers and public beta testers, though it does not yet include anticipated Apple Intelligence features such as personal context and on-screen awareness for Siri.