Kate Mills 
Jan 31, 2024
The beta version of iOS 17.4 is now being rolled out to testers on Apple's public beta channel, a week after the update was released to developers. This upcoming iOS update is expected to bring changes to comply with the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations. Under these regulations, Apple will enable customers in the EU to access third-party app stores and open up additional parts of the operating system, including NFC support for third-party apps.
According to Gadgets360, the iOS 17.4 public beta (21E5184k) introduces user-facing changes. Notably, the Stolen Device Protection feature, introduced in the iOS 17.3 update, has been updated to include a new option that always requires a delay when changing security settings, disregarding whether the phone is in a familiar location.
While users outside the EU may not benefit from all the changes in iOS 17.4, the update includes support for third-party app stores on iPhones. Browsers like Firefox and Chrome will be able to support their browser engines, and iOS 17.4 will allow game streaming. Additionally, competitors to Apple Pay can use the iPhone's NFC technology for contactless payments.
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iOS 17.4 introduces six new emojis Broken Chain, Brown Mushroom, Head Shaking Horizontally, Head Shaking Vertically, Lime, and Phoenix Bird. These emojis can be used in apps and shared with other users through the system keyboard. The update also replaces the detailed family emoji with simplified versions, and emojis depicting moving characters now have variations for different directions.
The Apple Podcasts app has been updated with automatic transcriptions for episodes, and these transcriptions are displayed in the app. The Listen Now tab at the bottom of both the podcasts app and the Apple Music app has been updated with a new label – Home. Apart from these changes, no other visual updates are noticeable on these apps.
