All New iOS 17.4: Changing The World With New Features

Apple is a company synonymous with bleeding-edge technology and innovation. Their latest product offers all the bells and whistles of any other flagship device. However, there have always been a few restrictions on Apple devices, making it a bit boring to use them. Restrictions like not being able to download a third-party app or not being able to play many games. However, in order to comply with the the recent regulations put forward by the European Union (EU), has forced Apple some robust features in its latest iOS 17.4 update. This update will mark the next chapter in the story of Apple's dominance in the smartphone market. But what are these features, and how are they a game changer? We will tell you in this blog. 

Game-Changing Features In Apple’s New iOS 17.4

Apple’s iOS 17.4 offers many new features that will make your life easy and your experience better. Let’s have a look at some of the biggest changes in this version of iOS. Before starting the feature list, we should tell you that these changes are available in iOS 17.4 but only in the EU. 

1. New App Stores And Apploading In iOS 17.4

One of the main caveats of the iPhone was that it didn’t allow its users to download apps from third-party sources. You can only download the apps through Apple’s App Store. However, this will be changed in the latest iOS 17.4 update. This update will allow the users to download app stores from third-party sources. For this, Apple has devised a new payment plan in which the app developers must pay a commission. Users will be able to choose between the official App Store and alternative app stores. 

2. Third-Party Browser

In older and current versions of iOS, your default browser out of the box is Apple Safari and you can’t change to any other browser. However, this has changed in the latest iOS 17.4 update, and you can choose a new default web browser from the list of browsers on your Apple device. Earlier, third-party web browsers were very much limited; however, now Apple looks forward to decreasing the restrictions on third-party web browser installation. You are not limited to Safari and Chrome, as you can download any web browser and make it your default. 

3. Third-Party Gaming Apps

Another big change in iOS 17.4 is that streaming game apps are now allowed on the iPhone. This change, however, is not limited to the EU and will be implemented worldwide. Microsoft and NVidia have apps that let you play your favourite console and PC games on your mobile phone. However, in the case of iPhones, users could use these platforms only through the web, which made it a bit difficult to enjoy the games. The new iOS 17.4 offers third-party app installation, which means that you can download streaming game apps like Xbox Cloud and Nvidia Geforce Now on your iPhones and play all of your favourite console and PC games on your phone. 

4. New Emojis In iOS 17.4

Although this is not very significant, it still counts as a change. The new iOS 17.4 will offer 16 new emojis to express yourself better. The new 16 emojis include a lime emoji, an edible brown mushroom, a broken chain, a phoenix, a vertically nodding face (saying  ‘Yes’) and a horizontally nodding face (Saying ‘No’). All of these emojis were introduced in Apple’s Unicode 15.1 update, which was approved in September 2023. With this, Apple looks to expand its emoji library to make your text messages more interactive and fun. 

5. Next-Gen Apple Car Play

This new feature of iOS 17.4 is for all the car enthusiasts out there. With their new iOS 17.4, Apple has also updated their Car Play. You can mount your phone in your car, connect it with Car Play, and then use your iPhone to do many tasks that many people never even dreamt about. Some of the cool new features of Car Play include:

• Car Camera: After connecting with Car Play, you can use your iPhone to get the feed from your car’s rear camera. 

• Display Charge: For people with an electric car, the Car Play app will display your car's battery level on your iPhone’s screen. 

• Climate Control: The latest iOS 17.4 will provide your car’s climate control access to your phone. This means you can control your car’s AC temp, Fan Speed, heated seats and heated steering wheel, all from your iPhones. 

• Tyre Pressure: Another feature that makes this update awesome is the feature that displays tyre pressure on your iPhone screens. 

• Trips Information: With the new iOS 17.4 update, you can calculate many things related to your trip. You can track the distance travelled, time elapsed, vehicle’s average speed, fuel or energy efficiency and many more. 

6.  No More Default Hand gestures In Videos

In iOS 17, offered in their latest Apple iPhone 15 lineup, Apple introduced a bunch of default gestures for your video calls and video call apps. As they are default, there wasn’t any option to turn them off. For example, showing a thumbs-up in your video call will show firecrackers in your background. This feature is decent for normal video calls, but it can make the conversation very awkward in a serious situation. Moreover, many therapists started adding disclaimers because of this gesture feature. However, this is not the case any more; with this new iOS 17.4, you can turn off the gestures, which was not allowed in the previous versions.

Is Apple's New iOS 17.4 Really A Game Changer? 

The new iOS 17.4 brings some new and fresh features to the Apple ecosystem. However, how much these changes can affect the user experience is still unknown. Many people believe this is a major step in making Apple products more appealing to the market. The iOS 17.4 update will drop on your iPhones in the first or second week of March. We hope you liked the blog. Comment us and let us know which blog you would like to see next.