Apple releases iOS 17.4 Release Candidate; final version expected next week

Apple is still expected to release iOS 17.4 early in March to beat the March 8th deadline imposed by the EU for Apple to deliver all of the changes coming to Safari, the App Store, and iOS in the 27 EU member countries. Those in the EU will be able to use a browser with a non-WebKit engine, select a third-party default contactless payment app, choose an alternative third-party app store to install apps from, and much more. Today, Apple released the Release Candidate (RC) version of iOS 17.4 which means that the software released today will probably remain the same when the final version is made available.

Developers will be able to have in-app purchases processed by an alternative payment processing platform and avoid the so-called Apple Tax which will be reduced in the EU from 15%-30% everywhere else to 10%-17%. Those in the EU can thank the Digital Markets Act (DMA) for these changes while those living in other countries with an iPhone can hope for a DMA of their own.

iOS 17.4 will bring an improvement to the Stolen Device Protection feature that makes it harder for passcode stealing creeps to grab your phone and change your Apple ID and Password, reset Face ID and Touch ID, disable the Find My app, and create new passwords for your financial apps allowing them to take control and wipe you out. The feature requires the use of Face ID and Touch ID to verify your identity before changes can be made to your phone. More sensitive tasks will require verification from Face ID and Touch ID and puts certain changes on hold for an hour before they become official. This way, if you realize your iPhone has been stolen, you can call Apple to alert the company.

When Stolen Device Protection debuted in iOS 17.3, users could either enable it to work at unfamiliar locations, or disable it. In iOS 17.4, a new option has been added allowing the feature to be disabled, enabled for use in unfamiliar locations, or set to be on always. Personally, I chose the latter because it would seem to offer you protection from passcode thieves anywhere.

With iOS 17.4, the Apple Podcasts app will give you the ability to read transcripts of your favorite podcasts including an entire episode. You can tap on any part of the transcript and listen to the podcast from that point going forward, or search for a specific word or phrase. As a podcast is played on the app, the transcript is highlighted to match what is being heard.

The update to iOS 17.4 will include improved security for iMessage which will defend it "against even highly sophisticated quantum attacks." The system is called "post-quantum cryptographic protocol or PQ3. And new Emoji comes to the iPhone with iOS 17.4 including a brown mushroom, a phoenix, a broken chain, a lime, and two shaking heads. One of the heads is shaking vertically, the other is shaking horizontally.