Apple rolls out iOS 16.4 with notifications for web apps, voice call isolation and 21 new emoji

Apple released iOS 16.4 and it brings several minor updates to the mobile operating system. The big new addition here is the ability to receive notifications on web apps from Safari. These notifications also include a badge count on the home screen and they are also configurable with Focus mode.

Sample web app notification

Apple also added Voice Isolation for cellular calls which should offer improved ambient noise reduction. The feature was previously available on FaceTime and other third-party VoIP call apps.

There’s a total of 21 new emoji symbols with the new iOS release including hand gestures, pink heart, jellyfish and a Wi-Fi symbol. Photos get a neat feature that can remove duplicate photos and videos across iCloud Share Photo Libraries.

New emoji symbols in iOS 16.4

Apple Books in iOS 16.4 brings back the page turn animation which was previously removed in iOS 16. There’s built-in support for Sony’s PlayStation 5 DualSense Edge controller as well as improvements to crash detection on the iPhone 14 series.

iOS 16.4 is available to install on iPhone 8 and later starting today.

iOS 16.4 update changelog:

• 21 new emoji including animals, hand gestures, and objects are now available in the emoji keyboard
• Notifications for web apps added to the Home Screen
• Voice Isolation for cellular calls prioritizes your voice and blocks out ambient noise around you
• Duplicates album in Photos expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library
• VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app
• Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected
• Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent's device
• Addresses issues where Matter-compatible thermostats could become unresponsive when paired to Apple Home
• Crash Detection optimizations on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models