After rolling out iOS 26.3 Public Beta 3 last month, Apple has now released the first-ever developer beta update of iOS 26.4. The latest build refines the existing iOS experience and adds three new interesting features.
iOS 26.4 Beta 1 debuts Playlist Playground
The most significant change the first developer beta of iOS 26.4 has brought to iOS 26-supported devices is the new Playlist Playground feature in Apple Music.
It is aimed at offering a more interactive way to create and organise playlists. Using the feature, Apple Music users can use text prompts to generate playlists as well as edit existing ones. It works in real-time, allowing users to make changes on the go.
The next big change is inside Apple Podcasts. The first developer beta brings support for video podcasts aside from the usual audio-only podcasts. This is the first time Apple has added native video format support for podcasts inside Apple Podcasts. This brings it at par with Spotify, which introduced video podcasts way back in 2023.
Lastly, the other major change brought forward with iOS 26.4 beta is the support of encrypted messages in RCS. It now supports the E2EE encryption protocol for messages shared between Apple Messages and Google Messages.
Aside from these changes, the first developer beta also now enables Stolen Device Protection by default. There is also a new Ambient Music widget, redesigned wallpaper gallery and unified Apple Account interface across apps.
That said, developers and interested first-party adopters can update to the latest iOS 26.4 Beta 1 by going to Settings > General > Software Update > Update Now. The update is currently going live from the iPhone 11 to the latest iPhone 17 series. Apple has also released the first developer beta for iPadOS 26.4 for eligible iPads.
