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Kyle Chua
Feb 17, 20232 min read

Apple Releases iOS 16.4 Developer Beta, Previewing New Emojis, Keyboard Updates

iPhone users can expect an expanded selection of emojis and keyboard support for more languages in the latest version of iOS.

Apple today released the iOS 16.4 developer beta, previewing what the update is bringing with it.


The first of which is the addition of new emojis from Unicode version 15.0, which was approved in September last year. The release includes icons for a shaking face, a jellyfish, a moose and the Khanda emblem, the symbol of Sikh faith. For those unfamiliar, emojis first have to be reviewed and approved by the Unicode Consortium, a non-profit organisation that sets standards and internationalises data, before software makers can roll them out.

Another new addition is roman keyboard support for South Asian languages like Urdu, Punjabi and Gujarati. They'll now feature transliteration layouts to allow users to type words using roman letters without being subject to the English autocorrect. Speaking of which, the update enables autocorrect by default for the Korean keyboard. Ukrainian, meanwhile, gets predictive text support.


In addition, iOS 16.4 brings push notifications to web apps through WebKit's new Push API, Notifications API and Service Workers. The update allows web apps on users' Safari home screen to send notifications and display notification badges, as Apple first announced at WWDC. The notification permissions of web apps appear alongside that of other apps' in the notification settings menu.


The update also adds a toggle for receiving developer updates in Software Update. The new option in the settings menu is automatically enabled by default for devices enrolled in the developer program that update to the latest beta release. Users must be signed in using the Apple ID they used to enroll to the program to see the toggle for the option.

Other additions include a toggle for 5G standalone support, manual and automatic software update support for Matter accessories, a widget for order tracking and tilt (altitude) and orientation (azimuth) support for Apple Pencil's hover feature, among a host of fixes, tweaks and improvements.


iOS 16.4 beta is available now for download for those who are enrolled in Apple's developer program, with a public release expected sometime in the end of March.

 

  • Apple today released the iOS 16.4 developer beta, previewing what new additions iPhone users can expect from the latest update.

  • One of which is the addition of new emojis from Unicode version 15.0, including icons for a shaking face, a jellyfish, a moose and the Khanda emblem, the symbol of Sikh faith.

  • Another new addition is roman keyboard support for South Asian languages like Urdu, Punjabi and Gujarati.

  • They'll now feature transliteration layouts to allow users to type words using roman letters without being subject to the English autocorrect.






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