Apple (xip, downloads):
Xcode 26.4 includes Swift 6.3 and SDKs for iOS 26.4, iPadOS 26.4, tvOS 26.4, macOS 26.4, and visionOS 26.4. Xcode 26.4 supports on-device debugging in iOS 15 and later, tvOS 15 and later, watchOS 8 and later, and visionOS. Xcode 26.4 requires a Mac running macOS Tahoe 26.2 or later.
There are lots of improvements for C++. With no more support for Sequoia, I won’t be updating for a while.
New Run Comparison feature allows to compare call trees with other runs using View → Detail Area → Compare With… or the ⇆ button in the jump bar. After selecting which run you want to compare with, the comparison view allows you to view which functions took more or less time between the runs. Call tree filtering operations like “Charge to callers” allow you to focus in on the functions that are faster or slower.
Top Functions is a new, top-level mode of a Call Tree view allowing to quickly identify the most expensive functions in the trace, no matter where they’re called from. To access Top Functions, select rightmost button in the Call Tree navigation bar.
[…]
Swift Testing adds support for specifying a Severity when recording an Issue.
Previously:
Update (2026-03-30): Christian Beer:
So Xcode 26.4 only runs on Tahoe 26.2 or newer… our CI macMini needs to run Xcode 16.2 for older apps but Xcode 16.2 does NOT run on Tahoe!!!
This all sucks so much!!111
J⋃⋂D⋀:
After updating to Xcode 26.4, paste from Mac to iOS Simulator is completely broken.
[…]
Write directly to the Simulator’s pasteboard with simctl:
echo -n "your text here" | xcrun simctl pbcopy booted
This bypasses the broken Mac-to-Simulator auto-sync. Once run, paste works normally inside the Simulator. You still need another Cmd+V to paste into simulator.
Update (2026-04-03): Jeff Johnson:
Before and after, Xcode Settings in versions 16 and 26
The damn thing doesn’t even fit on my screen anymore!
C++ Programming Language Instruments Mac macOS Tahoe 26 Pasteboard Programming Simulator Swift Testing Xcode
Juli Clover (release notes, security, enterprise, developer, full installer, IPSW):
macOS Tahoe 26.4 returns the compact tab bar option to Safari for those who prefer the slimmed down look, along with a new Charge Limit feature for the Mac so you can set a maximum charge level from 80 to 100 percent. It also adds new eight emoji characters, and it displays warnings for apps that will stop working in the future. Apple is ending support for Rosetta 2 after macOS 27, so app that are still using Rosetta will display a popup letting users know that the app won't work starting with macOS 28.
macOS 26.4 also includes Apple Creator Studio for the Freeform app and it has the same Family Sharing change as iOS 26.4.
Dangerous-Coat-9174:
They fixed so many things, my appreciation for the developers has been restored. I am so happy that compact tabs, many bugs that I was experiencing have been fixed, the battery limit is nice and I uninstalled aldente but i am wondering if i will need something for temperature limits because I use it in the Summer mostly. Did you notice any other fix or added feature that has not been posted yet? Also the shadow in the mission control thing has been removed thank god.
See also Mr. Macintosh and Howard Oakley.
Previously:
Update (2026-03-26): Tim Hardwick:
As described in an updated Apple support document, a “Slow Charger” label now appears in orange text in the battery status menu and above the Battery Level graph in Battery settings. The indicator is accompanied by an info button for more details.
John Gruber:
After I posted this item back in October about the new MacBook Pros not shipping with chargers anywhere in Europe (not just the EU, even though it’s an EU law that requires products to be available without included chargers), a bunch of readers regaled me with tales of a family member complaining about their MacBook losing battery life even while plugged in, only to discover that they were using wimpy 5- or 10-watt USB-C adapters.
Joe Rossignol:
macOS Tahoe 26.4 introduces a new security feature that warns Mac users if they paste certain commands in the Terminal app that may be harmful.
klasma:
It would be helpful if the dialog actually showed what is being pasted, so that the user could decide whether they want to “Paste Anyway”…
Starfia:
What kind of a Mac alert title is “Possible malware, Paste blocked”? A comma splice with incorrect capitalization?
Chris Pirillo:
Apple has to resort to malware tactics to try to trick you into upgrading to Tahoe. This is user hostile. Shameful behavior.
Patrick Wardle:
Did
@Apple
forget to update the public Endpoint Security header files in macOS 26.4?
New ES events still marked: ES_EVENT_TYPE_RESERVED_* 😢😤
Rich Trouton:
This new message may not be desirable to display in all Mac environments, so Apple has provided management options to prevent this message from being shown. For more details, please see below the jump.
The relevant preference domain and key values are below:
- Preference domain: com.apple.applicationaccess
- Key: allowRosettaUsageAwareness
- Value: Boolean
Armin Briegel:
In macOS 26.4 Apple has added user confirmation prompts to all file type/UTI default app changes.
Update (2026-03-30): George Black:
Tahoe 26.4 fixes the Liquid Mud issue in the Settings search bar!
Matt Gemmell:
macOS 26.4 seems to remount unmounted drives when unlocking the screen. Apple keeps finding new ways to make me dread every update and its bizarre bugs.
Howard Oakley:
The macOS 26.4 update for Apple silicon Macs was large, and the work required to verify its contents and complete its preparation was incorrectly reported in both percent completion and time remaining. Even in smaller updates, some form of progress needs to be shown in the progress bar during these later stages of preparation, or users may be mislead into thinking the update has frozen or failed, and could for example restart their Mac to try updating again.
Previously:
Update (2026-03-31): Rajesh Pandey:
macOS Tahoe 26.4 brings several new features to Macs. But it also breaks one critical functionality: Time Machine backups.
The bug appears to affect backups over network drives and NAS (network-attached storage), causing them to fail with a credential error.
Matthias Gansrigler-Hrad:
I wonder why I’m able to force quit apps that aren’t even running 🤔 🤣
Endpoint Security Family Sharing Liquid Glass Mac macOS Release macOS Tahoe 26 Malware Pasteboard Power Rosetta Safari Terminal Time Machine
macOS 15.7.5 (security, full installer):
This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users.
macOS 14.8.5 (security, full installer):
This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users.
See also Howard Oakley.
Previously:
Mac macOS 14 Sonoma macOS 15 Sequoia macOS Release
Juli Clover (iOS/iPadOS release notes, security, enterprise, developer):
iOS 26.4 adds a new Apple Music feature called Playlist Playground, which uses AI to generate playlists for you based on text-based prompts. You can ask for moods, feelings, occasions, and more when making a request.
Joe Rossignol:
iOS 26.4 was released today, and it includes a couple of new features for CarPlay: an Ambient Music widget and support for voice-based chatbot apps.
Ryan Christoffel:
Apple Music gets several updates in iOS 26.4, including a new fullscreen design for albums and playlists.
Benjamin Mayo:
The iOS 26.4 attempt is a much nicer interpretation of this idea. First and foremost, it doesn’t try too hard; the foreground text colour is only ever white or black. The background is colour-matched, which injects a splash of personality and helps make the full-bleed album art blend more seamlessly with the rest of the UI. The Liquid Glass toolbars and tab bars also neatly blend in with their colourful surroundings. The design is impactful, yet refined.
Ryan Christoffel:
iOS 26.4 expands customization tools with two settings:
- Reduce Bright Effects, which is brand new in iOS 26.4
- Reduce Motion, which has been updated in iOS 26.4
Nick Heer:
In my testing, this does exactly what you would expect. In places like toolbar buttons — or the buttons in the area of what is left of a toolbar, anyhow — the passcode entry screen, and Control Centre, the glowing tap effects are minimized or removed.
Juli Clover:
Apple has made a small but useful change to the way that Family Sharing works. Each adult member of the family can now use their own payment method for purchases, rather than being forced to share a payment method.
Juli Clover:
Apple has removed the RCS end-to-end encryption beta in the fourth beta of iOS 26.4 after testing it in the prior three betas. Apple already said that end-to-end encryption for RCS would not launch in the iOS 26.4 update, and would instead be introduced in the future.
Juli Clover:
The iOS 26.4 update […] includes improvements for the built-in iOS keyboard. In its notes for the software, Apple says iOS 26.4 offers “improved keyboard accuracy when typing quickly.”
Previously:
Update (2026-03-26): Juli Clover:
The update doesn’t have the Siri feature set we were hoping for, but there are quite a few new additions like new emoji and an AI music feature.
Jeff Johnson:
If you use the Compact Tab Bar in Safari, then attempting to open a Safari extension popup window will crash the entire Safari app.
[…]
I personally reported this bug to Apple a month ago, on February 24: FB22044349 “iPadOS 26.4 beta: opening a Safari extension popup window crashes Safari.”
Financial Times (Reddit):
The UK is believed to be the first European market where Apple is rolling out its new age controls, which are designed to ensure that only adults can download apps rated on its App Store as being suitable for over-18s.
Following an iOS software update that was pushed out on Wednesday, adults who do not verify their age will face restrictions on web browsing, as well as “communication safety” checks to their messages and FaceTime video calls, which are designed to detect nude photos and videos.
Previously:
Update (2026-04-08): Sarah Reichelt:
I’m not loving iPadOS 26.4.
It keeps warning me that I’m running out of space but more than half is taken up with iPadOS and System Data.
Plus, every app is asking for a rating at least once a day. Not the devs fault - the system is supposed to limit these.
Previously:
Apple Music Auto-Correction CarPlay Children Design Emoji Family Sharing iOS iOS 26 iOS Release iPadOS iPadOS 26 iPadOS Release Liquid Glass Music.app Rich Communication Services (RCS) Safari Extensions
Juli Clover (release notes, security, developer):
The update makes it quicker to start a workout in the Workout app by tapping on a Workout type icon, plus it has eight new emoji characters that include orca, trombone, treasure chest, fight cloud, hairy creature, landslide, ballet dancer, and distorted face.
Previously:
watchOS watchOS 26 watchOS Release Workout
Juli Clover (release notes, security, developer):
Apple added a new Genius Browse section to the Apple TV app in tvOS 26.4. Genius Browse is a content discovery feature that provides recommendations for TV shows and movies across multiple suggested categories. Suggestions vary based on content preferences, and the options are updated regularly.
[…]
tvOS 26.4 also adds more easily accessible customization options for subtitles, and it improves Apple TV Audio Format settings with an option for Continuous Audio Connection for HDMI output.
Previously:
Update (2026-03-30): Joe Rossignol:
Below, we have recapped what is new in tvOS 26.4.
tvOS tvOS 26 tvOS Release
Juli Clover (no release notes, security, enterprise, developer):
visionOS 26.4 includes bug fixes and security improvements, along with improved Spatial Audio and eight new emoji characters. New additions include distorted face, fight cloud, landslide, ballet dancer, treasure chest, trombone, orca, and hairy creature.
Previously:
visionOS visionOS 26 visionOS Release
Juli Clover (release notes):
According to Apple’s release notes, HomePod Software 26.4 includes performance and stability improvements.
Previously:
audioOS audioOS 26 audioOS Release
