iOS 17.4: iPhones will give us more detailed information on battery health

Apple has released beta 4 of iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4watchOS 10.4, macOS 14.4 Sonoma and tvOS 17.4 for developers, one week after the previous betas and one month after the introduction of stable versions of iOS and iPadOS 17.3, macOS 14.3 and watchOS 10.3.

In the meantime, programmers have access to the third beta of visionOS 1.1the operating system of Vision Pro, a mixed reality headset launched in the United States at the beginning of February.

Unlike previous test releases, 17.4 introduces significant changes rather than just minor tweaks.

What stands out is that, with iOS 17.4, users will finally be able to monitor battery status of their iPhone instantly, unlike previous options that required exploration in preferences.

iOS charging

The fourth trial version of iOS 17.4 welcomes users with a new screen when restarting an updated iPhone, showing the user's profile picture along with the word “Hello.”

With the upcoming system update, Apple will make significant changes to the battery settings section, offering a immediate report of his conditions.
Unlike previous versions, iOS 17.4 eliminates the need to tap a second option (Battery Status & Charge) for more details, replacing it with a direct description of its status; for example, “Normal” will indicate no problems.

For iPhone 15, the battery cycle count has been moved from the “About” menu to General Settings, in a new menu called “Battery Health.”
You can now view battery cycles, manufacturing date and first use.
The “Charging Optimization” section keeps the same settings.
With the iPhone 15, the capacity reduction from 100% to 80%, according to Apple's tests, should occur within the first thousand charging cycles rather than within the first 500, or as previously indicated.

With the arrival of iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4, substantial changes will occur relating to the App Store and applications in the European Union, marking a significant turning point after 16 years: the App Store will no longer be the only channel to install applications on iPhone and iPad.

In compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a European regulation aimed at ensuring fair and open digital markets, Apple has adopted the “sideloading“, allowing apps to be downloaded, installed and updated on iPhone and iPad through third-party stores, alternative payment systems, support for third-party browsers (including engines, no WebKit required), and NFC access for banks and third-party payment providers.

Alternative app marketplaces will function like iOS apps, allowing other applications to be installed on iPhone and iPad as long as developers meet specific criteria regarding customer experience, fraud prevention, customer support and more.

The changes also involve the gaming appsenabling streaming and paving the way for services like Xbox Cloud Gaming and NVIDIA GeForce NOW, which can be available as standalone apps on iPhone and iPad.

The other news

The CarPlay system has undergone further improvements, now offering a new instrument cluster experience with an option to view information about upcoming maneuvers.
Users can easily switch between the home and dashboard screens by tapping the map setup button located at the top right of the main Maps screen.

The new betas then introduce 118 new emoji from the Unicode 15.1 package, transcripts for the Podcasts app, and support for using SharePlay with HomePod.

Furthermore, the app Clock extended the “Stopwatch” feature to the Dynamic Island and lock screen, similar to the Timer.
Apple has also implemented a advanced encryption to protect user conversations from possible future attacks via quantum computers, more complex devices that exploit some peculiar properties of quantum physics.

As for the third beta of visionOS 1.1the Vision Pro operating system, this was published instead without reports of new features compared to previous versions.

However, it should be noted that the ability to reset the headset if you forget the unlock code was recently introduced and updates to the “Person” function to make faces look more natural.