Apple Insider: Uncovering the Changes in iOS 11.4

Welcome to Apple Insider, everybody! It's Andrew here, and we're excited to bring you the latest news on the first beta of iOS 11.4. Not even a week after iOS 11.3 made its way into the hands of the public, there are actually quite a few substantial changes in this latest update. Similar to how we saw quite a few new features in eleven point three, iOS 11.4 has brought some exciting additions to the table.

One of the biggest features that iOS 11.4 is introducing is the return and hopefully the final return of AirPlay. You can see it right away with any AirPlay-enabled device like an Apple TV running CBS 11.4. Inside the AirPlay controls inside a control center, you can see both my Apple TVs' bedroom and living room with this little checkbox that allows streaming audio to both of them simultaneously. When you have them checked and enable to stream your audio, they do remove the independent controls down from below them inside a control center.

When you set up your Apple TV, it'll tell you to select which room in your home for HomeKit purposes. That's because Apple TV is going to be used for controlling smart home devices. If you head to those rooms inside of your home app on your iPhone or your iPad, you will see those Apple TVs now. However, there's a catch - you can't do any automation with them at least not yet. Hopefully, that is something we see in the future.

But right now, you can just play and pause anywhere you have AirPlay controls, whether it's to the music app or a third-party audio app. If you tap on the AirPlay option, you will see all of them appear, both your non-AirPlay 2 devices like the HomePod currently, because there's no beta out as well as any AirPlay 2 devices like my dual Apple TVs. However, there is no AirPlay 2 support for the HomePod yet.

AirPlay 2 is bringing kind of support back to the HomePod for stereo pairing. It shows up if you have two HomePods available inside of the Home app. But, it just tells you that you need the firmware update for the HomePod. That's not released yet, and there's no beta out. So, we still can't test that out.

Another feature that seems to have returned in iOS 11.4 is messages in iCloud. This allows you to store all of your messages in iCloud across all of your devices. When you delete something on one device gets to leave it on the other. It's a very handy feature, especially if you're someone who likes to keep their messages organized.

The new framework that Apple announced at their Chicago Education event is also included in this beta, allowing developers to take advantage of it in their upcoming apps. The performance and battery life are definitely pretty snappy. Notice any real slowdowns or studying? There's nothing there, so that's a plus.

As for actual performance, running a Geekbench test shows promising results when running the CPU test inside a Geekbench for iOS 11.4. I got about 40,150 as far as single-core goes and multi-score pulled in just above 10,000. When we go back into my history and compare that to previous tests of eleven point three, I recently took them inside of the previous betas, I got similar scores that are pretty on par with one another. So, these are the biggest changes we've uncovered thus far in iOS eleven point four.

There's definitely smaller changes out there, but this is a good starting point for what to expect from Apple's next update. If you're interested in knowing more about what features or updates Apple might bring to their next software release, feel free to let us know down below in the comments.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwelcome to Apple Insider everybody it is Andrew here Apple has just released the first beta of iOS 11.4 not even a week after iOS 11.3 made its way into the hands of the public there were actually quite a few substantial changes here in iOS 11.4 similar to how we saw quite a few new features in eleven point three one of the biggest features eleven point four is the return and hopefully the final return of airplay - you can see it right away with any airplay to enable devices like an Apple TV running CBS eleven point four which was also released in beta inside of the airplay controls inside a control center you can see both my Apple TV's bedroom and living room with this little checkbox that cousin streaming audio to both of them simultaneously when you do have them checked and enable to stream your audio they do remove the independent controls down from below them inside a control center when you set up your Apple TV it'll tell you to select which room in your home for home kit purposes that Apple TV is and if you head to those rooms inside of your home app on your iPhone or your iPad you will see those Apple TVs now here in the home app you can't do any automation with them at least not yet hopefully that is something we see in the future but right now you can just play and pause anywhere you have airplay controls whether to the music app or a third-party audio app if you tap on the airplay option you will see all of them appear both your non airplay two devices like the home pod currently because there's no beta out as well as any airplay two devices like my dual Apple TVs while no beta has been released for the home pod airplay 2 is bringing kind of support back to the home pot for stereo pairing it shows up if you have two home pods available inside of the home app but you can't actually do it'll just tell you that you need the firmware update for the home pod but that's not released it there's no beta so we still can't test that out messages in iCloud also seems to have returned in the first beta of 11.4 this allows you to store all of your messages in iCloud across all of your devices when you delete something on one gets to leave it on the other it is very handy class kit the new framework that Apple announced at their Chicago Education event also is included in this beta allowing developers to take advantage of that in their upcoming apps so house performance kill noise beta it's definitely pretty snappy notice any real slowdowns or studying at all it's weights who really just tell anything about battery life but as far as actual performance goes running a geek bench test shows promising results when running the CPU test inside a geek bench for I got about 40 150 as far as these single core goes and multi score pulled in just above 10,000 if we go back into my history and compare that to previous test ones I recently took inside of the previous betas of iOS eleven point three I got not two different scores that they're pretty similar 41 67 on single score and 10,000 163 so a little bit higher on the multi-core score but there is some variability just in running these tests multiple times so they are pretty on par with one another so these are the biggest changes we've uncovered thus far in iOS eleven point four there's definitely smaller changes out there so let us know down the comments anything is that you may have found and we skipped out on which of these features is most exciting to you airplay - or messages in the cloud let us know as well down below in the comments if you enjoyed this video like it and hit that subscribe button also check out a price guide which makes it extremely easy to find the best deals and Apple products updated daily be sure to follow us on social media and we'll see you in the next videowelcome to Apple Insider everybody it is Andrew here Apple has just released the first beta of iOS 11.4 not even a week after iOS 11.3 made its way into the hands of the public there were actually quite a few substantial changes here in iOS 11.4 similar to how we saw quite a few new features in eleven point three one of the biggest features eleven point four is the return and hopefully the final return of airplay - you can see it right away with any airplay to enable devices like an Apple TV running CBS eleven point four which was also released in beta inside of the airplay controls inside a control center you can see both my Apple TV's bedroom and living room with this little checkbox that cousin streaming audio to both of them simultaneously when you do have them checked and enable to stream your audio they do remove the independent controls down from below them inside a control center when you set up your Apple TV it'll tell you to select which room in your home for home kit purposes that Apple TV is and if you head to those rooms inside of your home app on your iPhone or your iPad you will see those Apple TVs now here in the home app you can't do any automation with them at least not yet hopefully that is something we see in the future but right now you can just play and pause anywhere you have airplay controls whether to the music app or a third-party audio app if you tap on the airplay option you will see all of them appear both your non airplay two devices like the home pod currently because there's no beta out as well as any airplay two devices like my dual Apple TVs while no beta has been released for the home pod airplay 2 is bringing kind of support back to the home pot for stereo pairing it shows up if you have two home pods available inside of the home app but you can't actually do it'll just tell you that you need the firmware update for the home pod but that's not released it there's no beta so we still can't test that out messages in iCloud also seems to have returned in the first beta of 11.4 this allows you to store all of your messages in iCloud across all of your devices when you delete something on one gets to leave it on the other it is very handy class kit the new framework that Apple announced at their Chicago Education event also is included in this beta allowing developers to take advantage of that in their upcoming apps so house performance kill noise beta it's definitely pretty snappy notice any real slowdowns or studying at all it's weights who really just tell anything about battery life but as far as actual performance goes running a geek bench test shows promising results when running the CPU test inside a geek bench for I got about 40 150 as far as these single core goes and multi score pulled in just above 10,000 if we go back into my history and compare that to previous test ones I recently took inside of the previous betas of iOS eleven point three I got not two different scores that they're pretty similar 41 67 on single score and 10,000 163 so a little bit higher on the multi-core score but there is some variability just in running these tests multiple times so they are pretty on par with one another so these are the biggest changes we've uncovered thus far in iOS eleven point four there's definitely smaller changes out there so let us know down the comments anything is that you may have found and we skipped out on which of these features is most exciting to you airplay - or messages in the cloud let us know as well down below in the comments if you enjoyed this video like it and hit that subscribe button also check out a price guide which makes it extremely easy to find the best deals and Apple products updated daily be sure to follow us on social media and we'll see you in the next video\n"