In Europe, iOS 17.4 is undoubtedly one of the biggest updates in iPhone history. It introduces several changes related to the Digital Markets Act, such as the ability to install applications outside of the App Store. Other more minor new features, such as new emojis, are on the program.
While waiting for an iOS 18 on the theme of generative intelligence in June, Apple is releasing an interim update of iOS 17, numbered 17.4, this Monday, March 4. It is compatible with the same devices as the previous versions, namely all iPhones from the XR and XS.
What’s new with iOS 17.4? A lot of things. As Apple has become accustomed to in recent years, the X.4 update brings several important new features, while the previous ones were limited to software fixes. iOS 17.4 is also “the DMA update”, the European regulation which forces the opening of the iPhone.
The new features of iOS 17.4 exclusive to Europe
Digital Markets Act requires, Apple is transforming the iPhone in Europe (but not the iPad). The changes below are only for EU residents, since Apple did not want to make them global.
Stores competing with the App Store
In the European Union, iPhone owners are no longer required to download apps from the App Store. Apple allows developers who wish to create their own application stores, to be retrieved from their websites. These stores then allow you to download applications. Each store can determine its own rules, which opens up areas that are currently prohibited for the iPhone, such as emulators, P2P software or pornography.
At the same time, Apple must open its App Store to new competition. Alternative conditions allow developers who wish to bypass the 30% tax, with alternative payment engines (or links to their own sites). But this new system requires developers to pay €0.50 per download to Apple.
Apple Pay is no longer the only payment solution
Will Apple Pay decline in Europe? With iOS 17.4, Apple allows banks in the European Union to launch their own payment applications. They can use the double tap to launch Apple Pay and the iPhone’s NFC chip. Eventually, some banks could leave Apple Pay.
Other browsers than Safari
With iOS 17.4, Apple offers Europeans the choice between 12 web browsers, displayed randomly. Web browsers may also use different web engines in Europe, while they must use Apple WebKit in the rest of the world.
What’s new in iOS 17.4 available worldwide
As usual, Apple is taking advantage of interim iOS updates to deploy several new features on a global scale. They are less important than opening the iPhone to competing App Stores, but will satisfy several thousand users.
Siri no longer needs “Hey Siri”
Since September, the keyword “Hey Siri” is no longer required to speak to Siri in English. Apple is extending this change to France with iOS 17.4, since the voice assistant can now be triggered with its name. The phrase “Siri, what time is it?” » is now recognizable (it can be deactivated in the event of false triggers that are too regular).
New emojis and some changes
iOS 17.4 introduces some new emojis, in compliance with Unicode 15.1. The new entrants are few in number, since there are only six new emojis (two moving heads, a phoenix, a lime, a mushroom and a broken chain).
Among the changes discussed at length: the replacement of family emojis with pictograms, in accordance with the consortium’s requests. This is a provisional measure until we can generate families more representative of reality.
Podcasts analyzed by artificial intelligence
Amazing new feature of iOS 17.4: podcasts are analyzed by artificial intelligence, which offers a written transcription. The benefit for the user is to find a phrase more easily or to carry out searches by content. This is a first step before iOS 18, which should put AI in the spotlight.
A new menu to monitor the status of your battery
Starting with iOS 17.4, the battery health monitoring menu is expanding. It now indicates the number of battery cycles, in addition to its health expressed in percent.
This new feature is currently reserved for the iPhone 15, while Apple announces that their lifespan is doubled.
A new protocol for iMessage
It’s an invisible change to users, but iMessage is changing protocols. It is moving to post-quantum cryptography, which guarantees a level of security that cannot be breached by a future quantum computer.
Cloud gaming authorized on the App Store
Latest change: iOS 17.4 opens the iPhone to cloud gaming applications, previously prohibited on the App Store. Xbox Game Pass or Nvidia GeForce Now should soon offer their own applications.
The update can be installed directly in the settings, section General And Software updates. It is accompanied by iPadOS 17.4, which brings the same global changes, but not the European changes.
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