Apple Releases iOS 17.4, Checks a Series of New Features for iPhone Users

Morrissey Technology – Apple released the new operating system iOS 17.4 for iPhone users globally with this new operating system bringing a number of new features. For global users, iOS 17.4 brings a number of new features. For example, the Apple Podcasts app adds an automatically generated audio transcript feature for English, French, German, and Spanish podcasts. With this feature, users can search for specific phrases or words in episodes.

Later, iOS 17.4 also brought a new cryptographic protocol for the iMessage service, known as PQ3. This should strengthen end-to-end message encryption against potential quantum computing attacks. In addition, on this new operating system, Siri will get smarter and have the option to read incoming messages in any supported language, such as Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and more. Then, this operating system update brought more than 100 new emojis, such as lime, broken chain, brown mushroom, and nodding/shaking your head.

According to The Verge, iPhone 15 devices using iOS 17.4 will also display more battery-related information under the Battery Health settings, including the number of cycles, date of manufacture, and when the battery was first used. Lastly, the music recognition feature introduced in iOS 14.2 now allows users to add identified songs to Apple Music libraries and playlists.

iOS 17.4 is compatible with models ranging from the iPhone X lineup to the second generation iPhone SE and newer. Users can install the iOS 17.4 update by going to Settings > General > Software Update.

One of the special things about this update is that iOS 17.4 allows iPhone users to install applications from outside the Apple App Store application store, aka third-party applications. However, this only applies to iPhone users in the European Union.

This is to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations, a law that aims to make the digital economy fairer by eliminating the unfair advantages that giant technology companies have over businesses and users. iOS 17.4 will allow third-party developers to offer alternative app marketplaces and app downloads to EU FOR4D users from outside the iOS App Store.

Developers who want to take advantage of this must go through Apple’s approval process and pay Apple a “Core Technology Fee” of 50 euro cents per install once the app reaches 1 million downloads per year.

iPhone owners in the European Union will see different update notes that specifically mention new options available for the app store, web browser, and payment options.

iOS 17.4 also allows users in the European Union to download alternative browsers that are not based on Apple’s WebKit, such as Chrome and Firefox, with a new selection screen in iOS Safari that will prompt users to choose a default browser when opened for the first time. While no browser alternative has been officially announced yet, Google and Mozilla are currently experimenting with a new iOS browser that could eventually be released to the public.