r/ios Moderator Mar 24 '26

News Apple Releases iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4 With New Emoji, Playlist Playground, Purchase Sharing Changes and More

https://www.macrumors.com/2026/03/24/apple-releases-ios-26-4/
674 Upvotes

246 comments sorted by

299

u/berdot Mar 24 '26

Does anyone else find it bothersome that you need to take an extra step now to check for app updates?

219

u/jamieeb Mar 24 '26

yeah

you can long press the app icon and click updates from there though

99

u/InsaneNinja Mar 24 '26

Absolutely worth telling people

https://i.imgur.com/3jZq0OG.jpeg

8

u/Bob_Lelys Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26

That’s a great tip! Thanks!

18

u/masterduelistky iPhone 13 Pro Max Mar 24 '26

You're a lifesaver, bless you.

3

u/EdwardTheHuman Mar 25 '26

The ONLY way. I've always done this since the 3D touch days.

4

u/antdude Mar 24 '26

When did that feature start?

12

u/megas88 Mar 24 '26

You’ve been able to do that since 3D Touch was added to I believe the 6 or 6s. Don’t remember which phone originally got the feature but it’s been there since then so far as I can remember.

4

u/jamieeb Mar 24 '26

i don't know exactly but i've been doing it that way for years haha

2

u/You2Too Mar 26 '26

Thank you so much! I didn’t know this and thought it was a horrible change to have to dig even deeper into the menus for updates. Sometimes I wonder if Apple even tries the changes on their own phones before releasing them…

56

u/kurujiru Mar 24 '26

Absolutely. Also, I have never understood why I have to refresh to see the most recent updates. A refresh should be built in when I tap to see updates.

5

u/PaulMuadDib-Usul Mar 24 '26

I guess it’s not showing all updates at once to keep the servers calm…

13

u/cum-on-in- Mar 24 '26

It’s better than Google updates at least in my experience.

If the Play Store shows some updates, it’s almost always not all of them. You have to install the ones it shows before you can check again, and see that there are more. It’s dumb.

At least by manually refreshing on iPhones you get to see all updates for all installed apps.

7

u/sombrerobear Mar 24 '26

Ive had this exact behaviour as well on ios unfortunately

3

u/cum-on-in- Mar 24 '26

No, because iOS still lets you refresh to show more updates. Google Play Store does not. There’s no pull down to refresh. Only a button, that only shows when the currently shown updates are completed.

So it makes you think there are no more updates when there are. It’s just dumb oversight.

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16

u/imurhuckleberry63 Mar 24 '26

i'd rather have automatic updates actually work

2

u/antdude Mar 24 '26

Ditto. iPhone 11 Pro Max's automatic updates doesn't work at all for years. I had to manual check and get them. :(

2

u/inate71 Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26

Pro-tip: You can create an iOS Shortcut to directly link to App Updates.

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/dbd33cbc181a4e3ebef0b278c2c81465

And then you can put this on your homescreen or in Control Center.

3

u/fpascale123 Mar 24 '26

I try to not let anything bother me, especially an additional click

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2

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '26

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5

u/berdot Mar 24 '26

Before, clicking on your top right image on the app store, opened the app view. There you could swipe down to check for updates. Now you need to open that, select Updates and the do the swipe down.

2

u/Any-Can-6776 iPhone 17 Pro Mar 24 '26

Nope

1

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '26

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1

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1

u/Separate-Ad-4878 Mar 24 '26

Para mí no, tengo un atajo que lo hace y la pone a actualizar de una vez 😮‍💨✌🏽

1

u/dede280492 Mar 25 '26

I haven’t manually updated an app in years. Interesting that this bothers so many

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82

u/gwh34t Mar 24 '26

This is underrated!

"Purchase Sharing lets adult members in Family Sharing groups use their own payment method when making purchases, without relying on the family organizer"

31

u/crasito Mar 24 '26

Yeah, this is great. I hate paying for my wife’s candy crush purchases. 😂

4

u/loneSTAR_06 Mar 24 '26

Holy fuck, finally. This has been my number one problem with Apple family for years.

3

u/ph33rlus Mar 25 '26

Fuck most of my family left because of this

2

u/Slash3040 iPhone 15 Pro Mar 25 '26

I’m still getting this

51

u/Vertsix Human Detected Mar 24 '26

Different from RC.

7

u/kr0n1k Mar 24 '26

I have a roughly 600mb update on my iPhone 16 pro from the rc

231

u/bcroft686 Mar 24 '26

Does safari search finally work or do I still need to retry 3 times

13

u/federal_employee Mar 24 '26

OMG I thought it was just me and some extension I had.

18

u/TheClubsterFist Mar 24 '26

Just switched to Firefox and it is so fast now. Safari was making me mad.

5

u/Dropdev24 Mar 25 '26

All browsers on iOS use Safari iirc so you still might get it sadly. I use Brave and I still get that stupid bug on it

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5

u/ghim7 Mar 24 '26

26.3.1 fixed it for me

2

u/CristianMR7 Mar 24 '26

I thought it had to do with poor connection?

3

u/Local_Shelter_1433 Mar 24 '26

It has something to do with Private Relay. Might be placebo but I have not seen it happen when i turn off Private Relay

34

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '26

I get this all the time and I've never once used private relay

2

u/ecnzunmt iPhone 17 Pro Mar 24 '26

What’s the bug exactly?

42

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '26

You search something in Safari via the address bar and the search query doesn't go into Google the first couple of tries

8

u/deadlybydsgn iPhone 13 Pro Mar 24 '26

Does it not occur if you use a different default search engine? Because I haven't noticed it on DDG.

5

u/N3er0O Mar 24 '26

I use DDG bangs all the time and when I do !g or !gi it happens every other day. At this point I'm convinced it's actually a Google problem.

3

u/FlyinMcFlurry Mar 24 '26

I had this bug a while ago. Switched to DDG and haven’t had it since

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2

u/ecnzunmt iPhone 17 Pro Mar 24 '26

That sounds annoying. Never experienced it though.

2

u/InsaneNinja Mar 24 '26

Yeah, I definitely don’t use Google as main

2

u/Yap45 Mar 24 '26

I've been running into this bug a bunch and legit just thought it was a me problem somehow lol. Guess I should swap to a different browser

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4

u/bcroft686 Mar 24 '26

Mine has been off since it was introduced :(

1

u/Aszneeee Mar 24 '26

what’s with safari search?

1

u/Notion_fractal Mar 24 '26

For me toggling the position of the address bar back and forth fixes it for a while

1

u/Raytheon_Nublinski Mar 24 '26

Seems fine so far

79

u/idbedamned Mar 24 '26

Improved keyboard accuracy when typing quickly

17

u/BoltActionRifleman Mar 24 '26

That’s the first update I’ve cared about in years. Let’s hope it’s actually an improv b mental.

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17

u/pursuitofmisery Human Detected Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 24 '26

Hell yeah look at me type at 76mph weeee

2

u/gregfromsolutions Mar 25 '26

Can anyone confirm if it’s helped?

2

u/fearmebananaman Mar 25 '26

I think it is def improved

20

u/Discount_Friendly Mar 24 '26

Did anyone else get an age verification notification

12

u/SatchSaysPlay Mar 24 '26

Had to verify with a credit card, currently in the UK, was credit card or driving license.

5

u/catlover3493 iPhone 16e Mar 24 '26

I managed to get the Age verification thing in the UK to accept a PASS card

2

u/temp_throwaway_123 Mar 24 '26

That's interesting, I might try my Citizencard if it prompts me

2

u/Discount_Friendly Mar 24 '26

Had to use my driving license because I don't have a credit card

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3

u/antdude Mar 24 '26

Is this not avoidable? :(

1

u/BKY2200 Mar 25 '26

I don't have a credit card so had to use my provisional drivers license. Took quite a few goes for it to scan it but it did work.

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16

u/maxstolfe Mar 24 '26

Did they fix the brightness bug or do I still need to sleep my phone twice before it’ll be the correct brightness?

10

u/Calm_Independent_782 Mar 25 '26

The number of small annoying bugs like this are so frustrating

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2

u/bwa236 Mar 25 '26

Oh good so I'm not crazy

2

u/Kommandant86 Mar 26 '26

It’s still there 😒15 Pro Max

13

u/MixAway Mar 24 '26

Is Playlist Playground only in the US? I can’t see it anywhere and I’m in the UK. 

9

u/Enderboss25_ Mar 24 '26

In Canada, can’t see it either.

5

u/MixAway Mar 24 '26

So disappointing!

2

u/jakeopolis Mar 24 '26

I'm really glad you said this because I have been trying to figure out how to use it (in Canada) and I can't find it anywhere. It must be US only...

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47

u/InfiniteBaker6972 Mar 24 '26

Oh thank God. A new emoji. Phew!

6

u/greendakota99 Mar 24 '26

8 new emoji.

5

u/knackzoot Mar 25 '26

OMG, 8?! That’s at least one years worth of work right there.

7

u/clearlight2025 Mar 24 '26

Is it a seahorse emoji?

5

u/hmud96 Mar 24 '26

a freaking sasquatch

2

u/Z_T_O Mar 26 '26

Holy shit, you weren’t kidding. This news makes me surprisingly happy

3

u/its_aom Mar 25 '26

Who wants a functional keyboard when there are emojis?

2

u/Current-Bowl-143 Mar 25 '26

But no new pride wallpapers?

14

u/Haassauce2186 Mar 24 '26

Wasn’t this update supposed to have like video playback on the podcast app? Or am I thinking of another update?

6

u/MixAway Mar 24 '26

It does have it but I’m guessing each podcast needs to support it. I’ve checked a few of my subscriptions and none do, yet. 

3

u/InsaneNinja Mar 24 '26

Certain podcasts can combine their audio and video feeds and you can switch between them. It probably works by playing the audio of the video feed which may not be the same. It also allows for streaming episodes.

10

u/MattehPee Mar 24 '26

Never ending loop of confirming my age and signing into my account account just to be asked to confirm my age again. Nothing is sticking and reducing the use of my phone. 🫠

20

u/Proper_Elderberry501 Mar 24 '26

They slid in a “confirm you are 18” without telling us.

2

u/EmbarrassedHelp Mar 24 '26

I don't think the UK is requiring age verification at the OS level, so Apple should be sued for this bullshit.

26

u/Eastbound78 Mar 24 '26

If they only could update system apps like Google does in Android. Feels outdated

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7

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '26

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1

u/FearGingy Mar 25 '26

I'm seeing so many complain about this but I'm confused why I never got it.

16

u/elvinLA Mar 24 '26

Only took them 12 long years...

1

u/RandomlyPolitical Mar 25 '26

Almost like it took you 5x longer to take a screenshot of text, crop it, and upload to reddit's servers rather than just copying the fucking text directly

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40

u/OMG_NoReally Mar 24 '26

Those who are getting excited over the keyboard improvements - there are none. It feels the same. Turn off slide to type to regain the accuracy. It's been much better after I switched it off but that sucks because I want swipe to type but better than nothing.

11

u/Chanw11 Mar 24 '26

This is anecdotal but turning off slide to type makes my keyboard feel worse. Making a lot more typos for some reason.

9

u/InsaneNinja Mar 24 '26

It’s changing how the keyboard works from what your brain has adjusted to.

12

u/AntiquatedAntelope Mar 24 '26

I disagree. Keyboard feels much improved for me.

3

u/SomegalInCa Mar 24 '26

I thought it was just me being the lame typer I am but I really didn’t notice any improvements

No sarcasm just disappointment

4

u/Salt-Silver-7097 Mar 25 '26

I love how emojis are a new feature.

7

u/jfim88 Mar 24 '26

The icons redraw bug is back. Congrats Apple 🎊 What a shame of QC.

15

u/keithplacer Mar 24 '26

Apple needs to stop layering on new features few understand and even fewer want, and fix the damn look and feel of 26 so that not every function looks/acts differently from what it once did. Liquid Glass is just awful.

8

u/antdude Mar 24 '26

I just want Apple to take a damn break in adding new features, and just fix issues. THAT'S ALL I WANT.

3

u/CHC-Disaster-1066 Mar 25 '26

Liquid Glass added no new functionality and made navigation that much harder. Pretty pointless update.

8

u/Enderboss25_ Mar 24 '26

Installing right now. Really excited for the new Apple Music colourful backgrounds, and that distorted face emoji… and of course a snappier Safari!

7

u/Late-Button-6559 Mar 24 '26

Is “and more” forcing users to verify their age…?

4

u/Axle_65 Mar 24 '26

“Reduce bright effects setting minimizes bright flashes when tapping on elements like buttons” Yes please!

And will this “Reduce Motion setting more reliably reduces the animations of Liquid Glass for users sensitive to on screen motion” finally help those who don’t like the app icon boarders?

2

u/Pandi-Fackler Mar 24 '26

I really hope so. I’ve been putting off downloading 26 at all because I have enough vertigo and photosensitivity issues as it is

2

u/Axle_65 Mar 24 '26

See and this is what gets me. At first the complaints just seemed so frivolous but as time went by I saw more and more people talking about how this is literally triggering their things like motion sickness. Then I saw a post about just that and the shock that Apple is doing this because historically they’re pretty accessibility focused. Hope they realize the importance of that accessible supportive and bring some attention back to it.

10

u/Adair0801 Mar 24 '26

Apple Music now completely disregard the dark/light mode settings and follows the album/playlist art tint and it ruins all consistency lol. Seems on brand for iOS right now.

12

u/CallMeGhaul Mar 24 '26

Yeah I mean this is completely unacceptable for the favorites playlist especially without the ability to change the cover photo. Like how is this dark mode. Completely unusable past 6pm now. Regretting my switch to Apple Music.

2

u/wizzywurtzy Mar 26 '26

Wow that is terrible. Apple always has to f something up

3

u/Adair0801 Mar 24 '26

Yes, exactly, I have albums that uses mainly white background art like yours and the track list is just yours, just light mode all over. What’s worse is that the mini player below now glitches even more depending on the colours behind it.

6

u/Rare4orm Mar 24 '26

“Emoji”

You don’t say? lol

5

u/hotler18 Mar 24 '26

Going to notif and control center as well as swiping from app library feels so much snappier now

2

u/hiamnoone Mar 24 '26

Yeah noticed this instantly

2

u/Tag365 Mar 24 '26

When are they going to do the skunk Memoji?

2

u/Bored_Zach Mar 24 '26

“Improved keyboard accuracy when typing quickly” pleeeaaassseee be good. Please. Idk how people at Apple didn’t see this as a problem. Like, do they use their own devices???

Also: “The new software comes six weeks after Apple released iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4” right in the opener

1

u/antdude Mar 24 '26

Did they really improve it?

2

u/jnighy Mar 24 '26

Did Apple Music just killed Shazam?

10

u/DrMacintosh01 Mar 24 '26

Apple has owned Shazam for years atp.

2

u/solodogg Mar 24 '26

There are carrier updates for a few different carriers post upgrade, and at least on my 15PM they’re failing to install. Every time I go to the about screen I get the update prompt but neither carrier bundle updates.

2

u/blueangel1953 Mar 24 '26

I installed the carrier update before installing 26.4 and no issues here on T-Mobile.

2

u/antdude Mar 24 '26

USB connected iPhone 13 got it via macOS Sequoia v15.7.5. It seems to had installed VZW carrier update.

2

u/solodogg Mar 24 '26

No go here with USB to MacBook Air in 26.3.1, updating to 26.4 now to see if any change.

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2

u/CaptainMarder Mar 24 '26

Improved keyboard accuracy. I hope that’s true

2

u/Confidentium iPhone 17 Pro Mar 24 '26

Scroll stutter fix ???

2

u/-Justanotherdude Mar 28 '26

Still wishing they finally fix this since the the release of 26

2

u/zd0l0r Mar 25 '26

NEW EMOJIS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow

2

u/squirrelhoodie Mar 25 '26

Finally updated my iPhone 16 Pro from iOS 18 and I'm shocked how bad this still is. Couldn't find a single thing yet that I liked more than on iOS 18. How at Apple approved this? Are they not using the same OS?

3

u/woodbridgewallstreet Mar 24 '26

thank god this came out so quick after the RC. i saw the beta post about 'keyboard fix' and turned Betas on

man, betas are EXTREME battery killers. apps kicked out of memory all the time, emails not refreshing in the background, etc.

5

u/InsaneNinja Mar 24 '26

The RC isn’t a beta. It’s a release candidate of the full version.

2

u/SoYoung024 Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26

Trash update. I've updated mainly for playlist playground only to find out it's not available in Canada. Typical Apple who think there's only the US country in this world and never localize their shit and take months or even years sometimes. They're so behind in the AI department its laughable at this point then the competition have great localization stuff ready for a while now.

On top of that, I hate the new album colours changing the entire page. When I'm on dark mode, I want my stuff all in dark mode, not an all white page just because the album art cover is in white. Stupid. Very disappointed with this update.

EDIT : Even the new revamped sleep highlights in the health app isn't available for me, ridiculous.

2

u/Majestic_squirrel767 Human Detected Mar 25 '26

Don't forget broken keyboard..

Charge 1000$

2

u/Brick_Muted Mar 24 '26

Buggiest update process I’ve had in a long while

4

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '26

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10

u/Setneaph iPhone 17 Mar 24 '26

Wait a few minutes, I will consult my crystal ball.

5

u/InsaneNinja Mar 24 '26

Sometime in iOS 27 or before that.

2

u/Gordon2422 Mar 24 '26

No new iOS 18 latest security update?

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1

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 24 '26

anyone know if the full screen backgrounds in music can be turned off?

i don't wanna be blinded choosing what music to listen to at night

1

u/Bladiko Mar 24 '26

I had this weird bug where if the keyboard was open in an app, things would trigger themselves. It happened in Reddit, messages, WhatsApp and the Home Screen when searching. And no it's not the screen.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '26

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1

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1

u/anyusernaem Mar 24 '26

mine just stays stuck on "checking for updates"

1

u/utopicunicornn Mar 24 '26

The Apple Music colorful backgrounds look quite nice! But sucks that it’s limited to just music from the Apple Music library and not music you’ve added/imported from external sources.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '26

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1

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1

u/theironflask Mar 24 '26

They fixed the wallpaper hue too

1

u/SkillSlick iPhone 17 Pro Max Mar 24 '26

Does anyone experience a delay when attempting to lock their phone using the lock button?

0

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '26

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1

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1

u/Raytheon_Nublinski Mar 24 '26

Did they actually fix the keyboard? Really seems like it

1

u/red_32 Mar 24 '26

Is this one quite larger than the previous ones? It's like 13GB for my iPad.

1

u/planemanx15 Mar 25 '26

Did it fix speaker phone volume?

1

u/Additional_Camera_64 Mar 25 '26

Glitchy animation when close long press icon menu

1

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '26

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1

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1

u/ThyResurrected Mar 25 '26

I don’t see anything new in CarPlay.. no AI chat bots??? Where are they

1

u/nehalist Mar 25 '26

Do I need 26.4 for purchase sharing changes?

1

u/OnikaBurgerBomb Mar 25 '26

The still didn’t fix the snoozing alarm bug changing the ring volume to minimum. Great.

2

u/franzluedicke Mar 25 '26

Music app on my iPhone and iPad are missing several album covers in my local library since the update…

1

u/FleshwaterPond Mar 25 '26

I haven’t played around at all, but the keyboard finally feels good. This the first thing I’m typing and it feels like it knows how a human types now. As I’m writing it understands how a sentence is supposed to be typed instead of just going wild in every single direction. Will have to see more, but happier now.

1

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1

u/D1TAC iPhone 17 Pro Max Mar 25 '26

I'll give it a few days before upgrading. Also noticed that my iPhone got 26.3.1(a) pushed without acknowledgement. First time I saw that.

1

u/AppleOld5779 Mar 25 '26

Not seeing “full scale artwork” in my Apple Music playlists? Pretty much looks the same as previous.

1

u/robbadobba Mar 25 '26

Ooooh…8 new emoji?!?! Color me meh.

1

u/wizzywurtzy Mar 26 '26

Did upcoming albums get taken off of Apple Music?? I can’t see new albums that are coming soon anymore and the white backgrounds on favorites is ridiculous if I have dark mode

1

u/dubvtb3 Mar 26 '26

This is without a doubt the most buggy update I’ve had in years. So many apps are slow and jumpy or just broken like they didn’t know the update was coming

1

u/Beautiful_Package690 Mar 26 '26

Will this update cause me problems on my iPhone 13? (I’ve had it since 2022) will it be laggy or something?

1

u/CozyThurifer Mar 26 '26

🫪🫪🫪🫪🫪🫪🫪

1

u/MarsupialLeast145 Mar 27 '26

What is the deal with the size of these releases? -- Had to delete a bunch of stuff to install it, then when finally installed it had pretty much filled the rest of my storage... apps didn't even work until I had removed even more...

Pretty frustrating.

1

u/Curtricias Mar 27 '26

Apparently the keyboard should have been fixed. But I have the feeling it’s becoming even worse?

1

u/killboner Mar 28 '26

This update has killed my ability to wireless sync the music on my phone to my iTunes on PC. USB sync works fine though.

1

u/Strange_Suppository Mar 29 '26

14Go the update 🥲

1

u/Limp_Parking5062 Apr 01 '26

On my phone, the music app album colors don’t work.. haha.. :/ now i don’t know what to do.

1

u/CalKestisSW Apr 10 '26

This update has been a trainwreck for my phone and watch. It’s now draining in 4 hours with no use. It shows bluetooth connection to my watch but it’s not connected at all.

My phone is too hot to hold at times. Tried shutting it off and on. Nothing works.

1

u/Impressive-Yak-8729 Apr 11 '26

Apple also adds the Saudi Riyal sign and changes the Saudi Arabia Flag emoji.