Technologies
iOS 16.4 Beta 4: Apple Music Classical and Other New Features
The release of iOS 16.4 is soon, but public beta testers don’t have to wait for these new features.

The wait for iOS 16.4 is almost over. Apple released iOS 16.4 beta 4 to public beta testers Thursday, about a week after the company released the third iOS 16.4 public beta. This fourth beta means the wide unveiling of iOS 16.4 is probably close at hand. Beta testers can now try out new iOS features, including Apple Music Classical and new emoji.


These features are available only to people who are a part of Apple’s Beta Software Program. New iOS features can be fun, but we recommend downloading a beta only onto something other than your primary phone, just in case the new software causes issues. Apple provides beta testers with an app called Feedback. The app lets testers notify Apple of any issues in the new software so the problem can be addressed before general release.
Here are some of the new features testers can find in the iOS 16.4 betas.
Apple Music Classical


The App Store page for Apple Music Classical as seen in iOS 16.4 beta 4.
Zach McAuliffe/CNETApple previously announced it would launch a new standalone app for classical music, called Apple Music Classical, on March 28. With 16.4 beta 4, you can find a new category called Apple Music Classical in the Music app. If you tap into this section, a page will open where you can preorder the app from Apple’s App Store and watch a video to learn more about the app.
Apple Books updates
The iOS 16.4 beta 2 update brings the page-turn curl animation back to Apple Books, after it was removed in a previous iOS update. Before, when you turned a page in an e-book on your iPhone, the page would slide to one side of your screen or it would vanish and be replaced by the next page. Beta testers can still choose these other page-turn animations in addition to the curl animation.
With iOS 16.4 beta 4, a new popup appears when you open Apple Books for the first time after downloading the update. It lets you know you can change your page-turn animation, theme and more.
31 new emoji
The first iOS 16.4 beta software brought 31 new emoji to your iOS device. The new emoji include a new smiley; new animals, like a moose and a goose; and new heart colors, like pink and light blue.


Some of the new emoji released in the first iOS 16.4 beta.
Patrick Holland/CNETThe new emoji all come from Unicode’s September 2022 recommendation list, Emoji 15.0.
Apple Podcasts updates
The first beta brought a few changes to how you navigate Apple Podcasts. Now you can access podcast channels you subscribe to in your Library. You can also use Up Next to resume podcast episodes you’ve started, start episodes you’ve saved and remove episodes you want to skip.
Apple ID and beta software updates


The latest beta lets you sign into another Apple ID to access other beta software.
Zach McAuliffe/CNETWith the third iOS 16.4 beta, developers and beta testers can check whether their Apple ID is associated with the developer beta, public beta or both. If you have a different Apple ID, like one for your job, that has access to beta updates, iOS 16.4 beta 3 also lets you switch to that account from your device.
Preview Mastodon links in Messages
Apple’s first iOS 16.4 beta enabled rich previews of Mastodon links in Messages. That’s good because Mastodon saw a 400% increase in the rate of new accounts in December, so you might be receiving Mastodon links in Messages.
Music app changes


A small banner appears at the bottom of the screen when you choose to play a song next in Apple Music in the frst iOS 16.4 beta.
Zach McAuliffe/CNETThe Music interface has been slightly modified in the first iOS 16.4 beta. When you add a song to your queue, a small banner appears near the bottom of your screen instead of a full-screen pop-up.
See who and what is covered under AppleCare
Starting with iOS 16.4 beta 1, you could go to Settings to check who and what devices are covered on your AppleCare plan. With iOS 16.4 beta 2, this menu will show you a small icon next to each device that’s covered under AppleCare.
Focus Mode, Shortcuts and always-on display
If you have an iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max, iOS 16.4 beta 1 lets you enable or disable the always-on display option with certain Focus Modes. A new option in Shortcuts called Set Always on Display was also added, in addition to new Lock Screen and Set VPN actions.
New Apple Wallet widgets
You can add three new order-tracking widgets for Apple Wallet to your home screen with the first iOS 16.4 beta. Each widget displays your tracking information on active orders, but the widgets are different sizes: small, medium and large.


The medium-size Apple Wallet order tracking widget takes up three tile spaces on your iPhone’s screen.
Zach McAuliffe/CNETMore accessibility options
The first beta update added a new accessibility option, too. The new option is called Dim Flashing Lights, and it can be found in the Motion menu in Settings. The option’s description says video content that depicts repeated flashing or strobing lights will automatically be dimmed. Video timelines will also show when flashing lights will occur.
New keyboards, Siri voices and language updates
The first iOS 16.4 beta added keyboards for the Choctaw and Chickasaw languages, and there are new Siri voices for Arabic and Hebrew. Language updates have also come to Korean, Ukrainian, Gujarati, Punjabi and Urdu.
There’s no word on when iOS 16.4 will be released to the general public. There’s no guarantee these beta features will be released with iOS 16.4, or that these will be the only features released with the update.
For more, check out how to become an Apple beta tester, what was included in iOS 16.3.1 and features you may have missed in iOS 16.3.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for June 8, #728
Here are some hints and the answers for Connections for June 8, #728.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s NYT Connections puzzle could be tricky. The purple category is one of those «sounds like» groups, that can be really tough to figure out. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time
Hints for today’s Connections groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Keep at it.
Green group hint: Think Wall Street animals.
Blue group hint: Online encyclopedia subheads.
Purple group hint: $$$.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Persist.
Green group: Animal metaphors in economics.
Blue group: Sidebar info on a person’s Wikipedia page.
Purple group: Homophones of slang for money.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is persist. The four answers are hold, last, stand and stay.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is animal metaphors in economics. The four answers are bear, bull, dove and hawk.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is sidebar info on a person’s Wikipedia page. The four answers are born, education, occupation and spouse.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is homophones of slang for money. The four answers are bred, cache, doe and lute.
Technologies
Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for June 8, #1450
Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle No. 1,450 for June 8.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s Wordle puzzle isn’t too tough, especially if your first guesses are heavy on vowels. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.
Today’s Wordle hints
Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.
Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats
Today’s Wordle answer has one repeated letter.
Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels
There are two vowels in today’s Wordle answer, but one is the repeated letter, so you’ll see it twice.
Wordle hint No. 3: First letter
Today’s Wordle answer begins with L.
Wordle hint No. 4: Ending
Today’s Wordle answer ends with a vowel.
Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning
Today’s Wordle answer refers to a contract where someone is given the right to use something for a specific time and payment.
TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER
Today’s Wordle answer is LEASE.
Yesterday’s Wordle answer
Yesterday’s Wordle answer, June 7, No. 1449 was REUSE.
Recent Wordle answers
June 3, No. 1445: ADMIN
June 4, No. 1446: CEASE
June 5, No. 1447: DATUM
June 6, No. 1448: EDIFY
Technologies
Resident Evil Requiem Revealed, but Where’s Leon Kennedy?
The Resident Evil 9 trailer showed off a new character, but not the much-rumored return of Leon.

After a fake-out earlier in Summer Game Fest on Friday, Resident Evil Requiem, or Resident Evil 9, was shown for the first time.
The new title is the first mainline entry since Capcom released Resident Evil Village in 2021, and is rumored to feature series stalwart Leon Kennedy. In the trailer, the only person we saw was a character named Grace Ashcroft, who works for the FBI and appears to have ties to Raccoon City.
For the most hardcore Resident Evil fans, the name Ashcroft will ring a bell. Alyssa Ashcroft was one of the survivors of the online-only title, Resident Evil Outbreak for the PS2. Alyssa was a journalist who was trapped in Raccoon City during the events of Resident Evil 2, and she, along with other survivors, had to escape the city before it was destroyed.
Grace is Alyssa’s daughter, and in the trailer, she is going to visit the Remwood Hotel, where Alyssa was murdered. Later in the trailer, images from what appears to be the remnants of a destroyed Raccoon City are shown — including the police department from RE2 — so it appears Resident Evil 9 will return to where the series started.
Leon’s (rumored) return is a big deal for the series, which has made some of its best games with him in the starring role. He first showed up as a rookie cop in Resident Evil 2, which built on the original game’s success with more story and improved monsters and level design.
He showed up again in Resident Evil 4, which took the series in a new direction by introducing an over-the-shoulder perspective, instead of the usual static camera angles and tank controls. Leon was also one of several playable protagonists in Resident Evil 6, a game that seemed to forget about its survival horror roots. We mostly don’t talk about that one.
But the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2 was an excellent return to form, bringing RE4’s gameplay and much better graphics to a fan-favorite entry. The RE4 remake was a similar success.
Resident Evil Requiem is set to drop Feb. 27, 2026, for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, but we’re hoping to get our hands on it this weekend. If you want to catch up on older Resident Evil games, Capcom is having a sale that includes basically all the games, including Village and the three remakes.
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