Apple today released iOS 26.4 Beta 4 to developers, just a few days after the second build of Beta 3 was unexpectedly released late last week. Let’s take a look at what’s new in this latest beta update.
In case you missed it, here’s what was added in iOS 26.4 Beta 3: What’s New in iOS 26.4 Beta 3 →
iOS 26.4 Developer Beta 4
Build: 23E5234a
Released: March 9, 2026
New Emojis
iOS 26.4 Beta 4 adds eight new emojis, including Distorted Face, Trombone, Hairy Creature, Treasure Chest, Fight Cloud, Orca, Ballet Dancer, and Landslide.
Reduce Bright Effects Toggle
iOS 26.4 beta 4 renames the “Reduce Highlighting Effects” option (added in beta 2 but didn’t work in beta 2 and beta 3) to “Reduce Bright Effects,” and we now finally know that it reduces highlighting and flashing when interacting with Liquid Glass elements.
You can find it in Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size.
Hidden Windows Indicator
iPadOS 26.4 beta 4 adds a “X Hidden Windows” indicator on the Dock when you tap an app that has multiple windows open. Tapping this indicator will show all the windows currently open for that app.
You can try it by opening multiple windows in Safari or Mail, then switching to another app. When you tap the app’s icon on the Dock again, the “Hidden Windows” indicator will appear.
RCS Message Encryption
Apple has removed RCS message encryption between iPhone and Android devices in iOS 26.4 beta 4. It appears the testing phase has ended, as Apple has confirmed that RCS encryption will not ship in this release. The feature was only included in earlier iOS 26.4 betas for testing purposes.
New Device Support
iOS 26.4 beta 4 also adds support for devices released last week, including iPhone 17e, iPad Air M4, and the new MacBook models.
Bug Fixes 
- An issue where Spotlight would randomly stop working, sometimes preventing apps from appearing in search results or causing slow loading, has also been resolved.
- The “The input of the shortcut could not be processed” bug in the Shortcuts app has been fixed. (via u/khaled)
I’ll keep adding more iOS 26.4 Beta 4 changes and new features here as I discover them. Stay tuned and follow @BetaProfiles on X or Threads!
