Another week, Apple is faithful to its appointment with the Betas and we have the fourth of iOS 17.4, in addition to the betas of the rest of the systems: watchOS 10.4, macOS Sonoma 14.4, iPadOS 17.4, tvOS 17.4 and of course, visionOS 1.1 Beta 2 for the new Apple Vision Pro.
The next big one iPhone update focuses on new features to comply with European legislation, so most of the changes will only be present in this area. But there are also other changes that will affect everyone. The list with all the changes is as follows:
- Third-party stores may be installed where we can purchase and download applications outside of the App Store. These app stores can be set as default instead of the App Store. (Europe only)
- Payment methods external to Apple will be allowed. Developers can include other payment methods and can even link to other websites to create them. (Europe only)
- Internet browsing applications will be able to use their own engines instead of being forced to use WebKit, the Safari engine. (Europe only)
- Banks and payment apps will have access to the iPhone’s NFC to be able to use their own payment platforms other than Apple Pay. These payment methods can be configured by default. (Europe only)
- Cloud gaming applications will be allowed. GeForce Now, Xbox Cloud and other platforms will be able to have their own applications without relying on Safari to function.
- New Emoji including: mushroom, lime, phoenix, broken chain, head saying ‘yes’ and head saying ‘no’.
- Ability for Siri to read messages in the language of your choice.
- The “Listen Now” tab is now “Home” in the Podcasts and Music apps.
- Podcasts will offer you automatic transcriptions of the podcast you are listening to.
- Safari’s navigation bar is longer.
- iPhone Theft Protection (released in iOS 14.3) lets you choose whether the one-hour delay for making certain changes is always required or only when you’re away from your familiar locations.
- CarPlay improvements (when the new version is released, for now only in the USA).
- SharePlay can now also be used on HomePod and Apple TV.
- The timer now has live activity on the lock screen.
- In the App Store, in your account, you have a purchase history that includes all purchases made, not just apps.
The changes in the rest of the systems are less relevant, the one that perhaps brings the most important changes is visionOS 1.1 which improves the generation of your “Persona”, the possibility of bringing the windows and objects generated in the glasses closer to you to interact with them, and the ability to reset the Vision Pro password without having to go to an Apple Store. The final versions of these Betas should arrive throughout the month of March.
