iOS 18's fourth beta has been released to users with an Apple Developer account. And early explorers have already discovered some interesting changes (via 9to5Mac).
One finding is related to Camera app functionality. A “Controls Menu” toggle, located in the Preserve Settings section of the main Settings app rather than the Camera itself, is now available, with the feature promising to "preserve the previous used camera tool when expanding the controls menu." It's not clear what exactly gets preserved in-app right now, so we'll have to wait for users to enable it and figure out what difference it makes.
For users who’ve been trying out iPhone Mirroring with the macOS Sequoia beta alongside iOS 18, you’ll see you can now choose one of three sizes for the iPhone window on your Mac: Actual Size, or Larger or Smaller.
There’s also a new Lock Screen icon for iPhone Mirroring in the phone while it’s active.
A lot of the changes found so far are cosmetic, but one particularly dramatic-looking one is the flashlight interface, which pops up a Dynamic Island widget to let you switch it on/off and adjust the brightness level. This was already available on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro models, but now the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus can use it too, allowing all current iPhones with the Dynamic Island to use the feature.
Some of the other redesigned elements in the fourth beta are a new look for the Hidden apps folder, a new darker "Continue" widget in Books, a new Stocks icon, fresh light and dark CarPlay wallpapers.
Also if you're an iCloud Plus subscriber, you get a new animation for your profile in the iCloud menu of the Settings app (shown via an X post from user aaronp613).
iOS 18 beta 4 adds a new animation to the controversial iCloud "subscriber edition" icon pic.twitter.com/6qJyc00PKQJuly 23, 2024
One last practical update is the addition of RCS messaging compatibility for more carriers. This includes Orange U.K. and T-Mobile U.K., which will be welcome news for anyone using those networks who's been waiting to try this feature.
What we're still waiting for
We still have no Apple Intelligence features as of iOS 18 beta 4, though this is as expected since the first appearance of Apple's AI suite on all compatible devices is slated for this fall. In a similar vein, on-device sorting of emails in the Mail app is also currently missing from the beta, but again Apple did warn us that this feature wouldn't be coming for another few months.
Also, it's worth keeping in mind that this beta is a developer beta. While the iOS 18 public beta is now available, it won't gain these new features until at least the next public beta, which will perhaps be available next month going by Apple's usual timings.
If you've yet to try out iOS 18 and want to know what it's all about, have a read of our iOS 18 hands-on for our opinion of the new software as it stands.
