Why this iPhone update is important

Is iOS 17.4 available for your iPhone? Please know that this is not a minor update.

Apple has released the iOS 17.4 update, which brings significant changes for iPhone users in Europe. The changes are a result of Apple’s compliance with the Digital Markets Act, a European law aimed at promoting competition in the digital market.

In the European Union, iPhone owners no longer need to download apps from the App Store. Apple now allows developers who want it To create their own app store, to retrieve from their websites. These stores then allow apps to be downloaded, with each store able to set its own rules. This opens up areas that are currently restricted to the iPhone, such as emulators, P2P software or pornography.

Additionally, Apple must open its App Store to new competition. Developers can now bypass the 30% tax by using alternative payment engines or linking to their own sites. However, this new system requires developers to pay Apple €0.50 per download over 1 million downloads.

With iOS 17.4, Apple allows banks in the European Union to launch their own payment apps. Users can use a double tap to launch Apple Pay and the iPhone’s NFC chip. Eventually, some banks may therefore drop Apple Pay.

Apple also offers Europeans a choice of 12 web browsers, which are displayed randomly. Web browsers can also use different rendering engines in Europe, while in the rest of the world they must use Apple WebKit.

Although iOS 17.4 brings big changes to iPhone users in Europe, it’s important to note that these changes won’t be visible right away. Actually, now everything depends on the app developers and publishers.

Furthermore, despite concessions made by Apple regarding third-party app stores and PWAs, the European Union does not intend to stop there. From Thursday, European authorities will closely scrutinize changes made by the firm to Apple to ensure they comply with the requirements of the Digital Markets Act.

Other improvements and bug fixes

Apart from the above major changes, iOS 17.4 also includes improvements and bug fixes. Music Recognition now lets you add songs you’ve recognized to your Apple Music playlists and library, as well as Apple Music Classical.

iOS 17.4 includes a new selection of emojis. For CarPlay in iOS 17.4, it includes a new way to present Apple Maps data on the car along with the secondary instrument cluster screen. So you can see additional information like speed, speed limit and ETA on the secondary instrument cluster screen.

Siri now has a new option to announce messages you receive in any supported language. Security for stolen devices has been strengthened with the option to increase security in all locations. iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro users can now view battery cycle count, manufacture date and first use in Battery Settings.

Finally, iOS 17.4 fixes several issues, including an issue where contact images were blank in Find My and an issue for users Two SIM cards Where the phone number changes from primary to secondary and is visible to the group they sent the message to.

Before launching the iOS 17.4 update, Don’t forget to charge your iPhone and backup your important data. You never know what can happen during an update, so it’s better to be safe than sorry! It only takes a few minutes and can save you a lot of trouble later.

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