Release record

iPadOS 26.4

Full article

Public release

Recorded milestones: 7
Beta cycle: 36d
Average interval: 6d
Public release: Mar 24, 2026

Release notes

Overview

Editorial synthesis with inline references and a source ledger when citations are available.

iPadOS 26.4 combined new Music and creative tools with accessibility controls, multitasking refinements, and Safari changes intended to make window state easier to understand.^[1]^[2]

The shared iOS and iPadOS developer notes contained approximately 13 topic areas and 17 listed items when reviewed on July 29, 2026; those counts may change.^[3]

Source ledger

References

Sources are linked to the claims they support. Publication and access dates are shown when available.

About iPadOS 26 Updates
Apple Support · 2026-07-29 · iPadOS 26.4
Back to text ↑
iOS & iPadOS 26.4 Release Notes
Apple Developer · 2026-07-29 · Overview
Back to text ↑
iOS & iPadOS 26.4 Release Notes
Apple Developer · 2026-07-29
Back to text ↑
About the Security Content of iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4
Apple Support · 2026-07-29 · iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4
iPadOS 26.4 (23E246)
Apple Developer · 2026-07-29 · Release title and build

Documented & observed

Changes in this version

Source-linked features, fixes, known issues, removals, and community-observed behavior recorded across this version’s appearances and verified builds.

Release changes

Changed in this release

Features, fixes, removals, and regressions first observed in this release record.

knownIssue · knownIssue

Background Assets download-crash known issue

documentedconfirmed

The beta note warns that an asset-pack download could crash the application and provides relaunch guidance.

Recorded at Beta 1

[1] Archived iOS & iPadOS 26.4 Beta Release Notes — February 19 snapshot · Background Assets — Known Issues; issue 169648111

developerApi · introduced

Offline Background Assets inspection and refresh APIs

documentedconfirmed

The initial archived beta note documents offline status queries and an API for ensuring that the latest asset-pack version is available locally.

Recorded at Beta 1

[1] Archived iOS & iPadOS 26.4 Beta Release Notes — February 19 snapshot · Background Assets — New Features; issues 164498466 and 166237389

knownIssue · knownIssue

External HFS automount known issue

documentedconfirmed

The shared iOS and iPadOS beta note records an automatic-mount failure for HFS external media and labels its command-line workaround as macOS-only.

Recorded at Beta 1

[1] Archived iOS & iPadOS 26.4 Beta Release Notes — February 19 snapshot · External Media — Known Issues; issue 168672160

bugFix · fixed

UIKit keyboard-notification delivery fix

documentedconfirmed

The initial beta note marks unreliable keyboard-notification delivery as fixed.

Recorded at Beta 1

[1] Archived iOS & iPadOS 26.4 Beta Release Notes — February 19 snapshot · UIKit — Resolved Issues; issue 165479264

knownIssue · knownIssue

Feedback close-button known issue

documentedconfirmed

The initial beta note records an unresponsive close control after submitting a crash or panic report, with locking and unlocking as a workaround.

Recorded at Beta 1

[1] Archived iOS & iPadOS 26.4 Beta Release Notes — February 19 snapshot · Feedback — Known Issues; issue 170091186

bugFix · fixed

PAC configuration run-loop source leak fix

documentedconfirmed

The beta note documents corrected ownership behavior around proxy auto-configuration callbacks and their returned Core Foundation objects.

Recorded at Beta 1

[1] Archived iOS & iPadOS 26.4 Beta Release Notes — February 19 snapshot · Networking — Resolved Issues; issues 166839810 and FB21376045

developerApi · introduced

Full Memory Integrity Enforcement opt-in

documentedconfirmed

The archived beta note says applications can opt in to the full protection mode for stronger memory-safety enforcement.

Recorded at Beta 1

[1] Archived iOS & iPadOS 26.4 Beta Release Notes — February 19 snapshot · Memory Integrity Enforcement for Applications — New Features; issue 160719439

developerApi · introduced

StoreKit transaction revocation fields

documentedconfirmed

The initial beta note adds two revocation-related properties to StoreKit transaction data.

Recorded at Beta 1

[1] Archived iOS & iPadOS 26.4 Beta Release Notes — February 19 snapshot · StoreKit — New Features; issue 148858551

knownIssue · knownIssue

SwiftUI RealityKit animation-grouping limitation

documentedconfirmed

Apple documents that overlapping implicit animations can remain independent and overwrite a property when their targeted component-property sets differ.

Recorded at Beta 1

[1] Archived iOS & iPadOS 26.4 Beta Release Notes — February 19 snapshot · SwiftUI — Known Issues; issue 169723142

feature · introduced

RCS end-to-end encryption testing between Apple devices

documentedconfirmed

Apple's initial beta note limits this RCS encryption test to Apple-device conversations and says it was not shipping to customers in 26.4.

Recorded at Beta 1

[1] Archived iOS & iPadOS 26.4 Beta Release Notes — February 19 snapshot · Messages — New Features; issue 170160585

knownIssue · knownIssue

Reality Composer export known issue

documentedconfirmed

The archived note records an empty export menu that prevented Reality Composer projects from being exported in the documented formats.

Recorded at Beta 1

[1] Archived iOS & iPadOS 26.4 Beta Release Notes — February 19 snapshot · Reality Composer — Known Issues; issue 170091896

bugFix · fixed

SwiftUI current user-activity fix

documentedconfirmed

The archived beta note marks SwiftUI's stale current-user-activity behavior as resolved.

Recorded at Beta 1

[1] Archived iOS & iPadOS 26.4 Beta Release Notes — February 19 snapshot · SwiftUI — Resolved Issues; issue 163136831

feature · introduced

Playlist Playground and concert discovery

documentedconfirmed

Playlist Playground and Concerts expanded playlist creation and live-music discovery on iPad.

Recorded at Public

[1] About iPadOS 26 Updates · iPadOS 26.4 — Apple Music

developerApi · changed

Background Assets state and download reliability

documentedconfirmed

Developers could determine offline and latest local availability, and an asset-pack download crash was fixed.

Recorded at Public

[1] iOS & iPadOS 26.4 Release Notes · Background Assets

enhancement · changed

Freeform creation tools and urgent Reminders

documentedconfirmed

New Freeform tools supported richer boards, and urgent Reminders gained more prominent behavior.

Recorded at Public

[1] About iPadOS 26 Updates · iPadOS 26.4 — Freeform and Reminders

enhancement · changed

Expanded visual and caption accessibility controls

documentedconfirmed

Reduce Bright Flashes, Liquid Glass motion adjustments, and expanded caption controls improved visual and media accessibility.

Recorded at Public

[1] About iPadOS 26 Updates · iPadOS 26.4 — Accessibility

enhancement · changed

AirPods Max 2 and new emoji support

documentedconfirmed

The update added AirPods Max 2 support and eight new emoji.

Recorded at Public

[1] About iPadOS 26 Updates · iPadOS 26.4 — Additional features

enhancement · changed

Compact Safari tabs and window indicator

documentedconfirmed

Compact tabs and an open-window indicator improved Safari navigation in iPad multitasking workflows.

Recorded at Public

[1] About iPadOS 26 Updates · iPadOS 26.4 — Safari

Milestones

Release history

Every recorded channel appearance in chronological order. Open an appearance for any available build, scope, notes, and sources.

Feb 16, 2026
Developer beta
Beta 1
Full articleEditorially verified
The first retained raw Apple DocC state after iPadOS 26.4 Beta 1 and before Beta 2 documents Background Assets APIs and limitations, memory protection, RCS encryption testing, networking, StoreKit, SwiftUI, UIKit, Feedback, external media, and Reality Composer.
Availability
available
Sources
14 linked
Open this appearance
Feb 23, 2026+7 days
Developer beta
Beta 2
Source-linked recordSources linked
Availability
available
Sources
1 linked
Open this appearance
Mar 2, 2026+7 days
Developer beta
Beta 3
Source-linked recordSources linked
Availability
available
Sources
1 linked
Open this appearance
Mar 5, 2026+3 days
Developer beta
Beta 3 v2
Source-linked recordSources linked
Build 23E5223k
Availability
available
Sources
1 linked
Open this appearance
Mar 9, 2026+4 days
Developer beta
Beta 4
Source-linked recordSources linked
Availability
available
Sources
1 linked
Open this appearance
Mar 18, 2026+9 days
Release candidate
RC
Source-linked recordSources linked
Availability
available
Sources
1 linked
Open this appearance
Mar 24, 2026+6 days
Public release
Public
Source-linked recordEditorially verified
The public iPadOS 26.4 release added Music, accessibility, accessory, Safari, creative, and background-asset improvements.
Build
23E246
Availability
available
Sources
9 linked
Open this appearance

Historical context

Cycle comparison

Pace, intervals, and duration compared with earlier releases on the same platform.

Historical avg for .4 releases

42 days, 6.3 milestones

Based on 6 previous iPadOS .4 releases

Cycle vs. platform average

36d (avg: 51d)

15 days shorter than the iPadOS average

Longest gap in this cycle

9 days

Between Beta 4 and RC

Previous .4 releases (iPadOS)

Previous comparable iPadOS releases
Version	Year	Cycle	Milestones	Avg. Interval
iPadOS 18.4	2025	38d	7	6d
iPadOS 17.4	2024	40d	7	7d
iPadOS 16.4	2023	39d	6	8d
iPadOS 15.4	2022	46d	7	8d
iPadOS 14.4	2021	41d	4	14d
iPadOS 13.4	2020	48d	7	8d

Scroll horizontally to compare every historical field.

Official release notes