We’ve been hearing about the next big update for iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 for weeks and finally Apple decided to release its first beta yesterday. This is truly one of those updates that will mark a before and after within the company as they are introduced. alternative stores to the App Store in the territory of the European Union to comply with new antitrust regulations. But that’s not all, new emojis, transcriptions in Apple Podcasts and many other new features will also be integrated, we will tell you about them below.
Alternative App Stores arrive in the European Union with iOS 17.4
This is undoubtedly the most relevant new feature of iOS 17.4 for the European territory. EU antitrust regulations have forced Apple to enable third-party app store support
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But in addition to the arrival of iOS 17.4 and this news which exploded the classic foundations of the App Store in the European Union, big changes were also announced within Apple’s common structure. Among them, the announcement that NFC chip will be open to Apple Pay alternatives in Europe o to reduced commission structure for apps within the EU. We will detail all these new features in the coming days, but the important thing today is to talk about iOS 17.4 so we continue with the news.
Really nice implementation of automatic transcriptions in iOS 17.4 podcasts; it even uses chapter markers as section titles! pic.twitter.com/y0GrG9feP5
–Benjamin Mayo (@bzamayo) January 25, 2024
Emojis and Apple Podcast
iOS 17.4 also introduced minor changes such as replacing the “Listen Now” tab in Apple Music with a new one titled “Home” with a new house icon. We will also have new emojis: shake head horizontally and vertically, phoenix, lime, brown mushroom and broken chain. These emojis will arrive with iOS 17.4.
Apple Podcasts has also received a very interesting function and that is that Real-time transcription of episodes will be available.
Minor changes added to the list
Small changes have also been included like the compatibility of “Hey Siri” or “Hey Siri” in Germany. An additional function has also been added within the theft protection system introduced in iOS 17.3, allowing you to activate the system always and not only when it moves away from places familiar to the user. Eventually, Siri lets you become compatible with reading messages in other languages and not just in the language it is configured in.
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How the new iOS 17.3 protection system works
We’ll see how iOS 17.4 evolves over the coming weeks, an update that will lay the foundations for new ways to install apps on the devices of users in the European Union.