Apple first released iOS 16 and macOS Ventura to the public back in late 2022. Since then, the company has been working on smaller updates to introduce the missing features it announced during WWDC22. iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, macOS Ventura 13.3, and watchOS 9.4 are now available. So if you have one of the new iPhones, iPads, Macs, or Apple Watches, you can get your hands on the latest additions and patches right away.
iOS 16.4
Starting with iOS 16.4, this update packs some exciting user-facing features. Notably, you can now take advantage of Safari push notifications, an offering that had been limited to the Mac for years. In addition to that, users can finally use the 21 new Unicode 15.0 emoji. These include a donkey, flute, goose, moose, and more. Expectedly, though, if you send them to a person running an older OS version, they won't be able to view them.
Apart from Safari push notifications and the new emoji, iOS 16.4 also brings some minor improvements. These include a Voice Isolation feature for cellular calls, a perk that has been available for FaceTime calls for a while now. Additionally, the duplicate photo detector now works in the iCloud Shared Photo Library, instead of being limited to just local media. You can read the official change log to discover the included bug fixes and tweaks below.
iOS 16.4 Change Log
This update includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:
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21 new emoji including animals, hand gestures, and objects are now available in emoji keyboard
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Notifications for web apps added to the Home Screen
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Voice Isolation for cellular calls prioritizes your voice and blocks out ambient noise around you
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Duplicates album in Photos expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library
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VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app
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Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected
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Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent's device
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Addresses issues where Matter-compatible thermostats could become unresponsive when paired to Apple Home
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Crash Detection optimizations on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models
iPadOS 16.4
iPadOS 16.4 brings that same main features introduced in iOS 16.4, such as the new Unicode 15.0 emoji and Safari web push notification support. In addition to that, iPad Pro M2 users also get to preview their mark at any angle before making it, thanks to the added tilt and azimuth support in Notes and supported apps. You can read the full change log to discover the included patches and changes below.
iPadOS 16.4 Change Log
This update includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:
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21 new emoji including animals, hand gestures, and objects are now available in emoji keyboard
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Apple Pencil hover adds tilt and azimuth support so you can preview your mark at any angle before you make it in Notes and supported apps on iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) and iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation)
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Notifications for web apps added to the Home Screen
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Duplicates album in Photos expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library
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VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app
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Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected
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Fixes an issue with Apple Pencil responsiveness that may occur while drawing or writing in the Notes app
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Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent's device
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Addresses issues where Matter-compatible thermostats could become unresponsive when paired to Apple Home
macOS Ventura 13.3
When compared to iOS 16.4, macOS Ventura 13.3 is a somewhat minor bump. It obviously introduces the new emoji included in Apple's other OS releases. Additionally, when using the remove background option in the Freeform app, the subject in an image is automatically isolated. Apart from that, it brings some minor changes and fixes, which you can read in the full change log below.
macOS Ventura 13.3 Change Log
This update includes new emoji along with other enhancements, bug fixes, and security updates for your Mac:
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21 new emoji including animals, hand gestures, and objects are now available in emoji keyboard
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Remove background option in Freeform automatically isolates the subject in your image
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Photos duplicates album expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library
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Transliteration support for Gujarati, Punjabi and Urdu keyboards
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New keyboard layouts for Choctaw, Chickasaw, Akan, Hausa, and Yoruba
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Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected
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VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app
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Resolves an issue where Trackpad gestures may occasionally stop responding
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Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent's device
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Addresses an issue where VoiceOver may be unresponsive after using Finder
watchOS 9.4
watchOS 9.4 is arguably the tiniest update in today's round of Apple releases. Most notably, wake-up alarms are no longer muted when you cover the Apple Watch's display to avoid unwanted dismissal when asleep. In addition to that, Apple has expanded its Cycle Tracking and AFib History features to more countries, which are detailed in the full change log below.
watchOS 9.4 Change Log
This update includes improvements to Apple Watch and brings features to new regions:
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Wake-up alarms are no longer silenced with cover to mute gesture to avoid accidental cancellations during sleep
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Cycle Tracking with retrospective ovulation estimates and cycle deviation alerts now supported in Moldova and Ukraine
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AFib History now available in Colombia, Malaysia, Moldova, Thailand, and Ukraine
With the first developer betas of iOS 17 and macOS 14 getting closer, the development of iOS 16 and macOS Ventura has slowed down. At this point, Apple is tying loose ends and fixing last-minute bugs to stabilize 2022's big releases before moving on to 2023's. After all, the company has already launched the main features it announced last June, and the following minor updates will likely revolve around smoothening the experience further.
