iOS 17.4 Is Here. These Are the Best New iPhone Features to Try

The year’s first “big” iPhone software update, iOS 17.4, is upon us. From podcast transcripts to a multilingual Siri, here are its standout capabilities.

By Tucker Bowe

Published March 6, 2024

·

In case you haven’t heard, iOS 17.4 is the next big software update coming to your iPhone — and it’s rolling out right now. It brings some pretty important updates and new features to your iPhone, including a revamped App Store, new emojis (including a phoenix, lime and mushroom), and more advanced Siri capabilities. But that’s just scratching the surface.

Below, we’ve rounded the most useful new iPhone features of iOS 17.4.

Note: You’ll have to download iOS 17.4 on your iPhone to access the below features. Open the Settings app > General > Software Update and download iOS 17.4.

1. Check if your iPhone’s battery health is “Normal”

An iPhone 15 screen displays the phones battery health with the new iOS 17.4 — You need an iPhone 15 to see this more advanced Battery Health info.

iOS 17.4 makes it a little simpler to check the battery health of your iPhone. Specifically, when you open the Battery menu in the Settings app, there’s a new menu option called Battery Health that will let you know if your iPhone’s battery is degrading at a normal rate.

If you select the Battery Health option, you’ll be able to access more detailed information such as your iPhone’s battery cycle count, its manufacture date and the first time you used the iPhone. This feature looks to only be available to the iPhone 15 lineup.

2. Access transcripts for Podcasts

ios-17-4-iphone — Read along the transcript of your favorite pod as you listen to it.

The Podcast app gains transcripts with iOS 17.4. This means you can read the transcript of a podcast while also listening to it. The transcripts are AI generated, so the exact wording might be a little different, but it’s still a neat feature.

To see the transcript of a podcast, start listening to an episode in the Podcasts app, then select theTranscript icon in the bottom-left corner. You’ll then see the transcript and it’ll highlight the words that are currently being spoken.

3. Fine tune your Stolen Device Protection

Apple introduced a pretty neat security feature with iOS 17.3 called Stolen Device Protection. When turned on, your iPhone would recognize when it wasn’t in a familiar location and require a type of biometric authentication, such as Face ID or Touch ID, to gain access to sensitive information or do sensitive tasks.

With iOS 17.4, there is a further layer of security. Specifically, you can toggle on an option for a security delay to be always on or just when you’re away from familiar locations.

4. Let Siri read Messages in multiple languages

Siri has been upgraded with iOS 17.4. Specifically, the voice assistant can now read Messages to you in multiple languages. Previously, Siri could only announce Messages in the language that you assigned Siri.

To allow Siri to read Messages in one or more languages, you have to add that language in the Settings app. Simply scroll down to Siri & Search, select Messaging with Siri and select Add Language.