Technologies
iOS 16.4: New Emoji, More Just Landed on Your iPhone
You can download the latest iOS update now.
iOS 16.4 is here and available to download now. The update comes with a handful of bug and security fixes, as well as new features, like fresh emoji and Voice Isolation for phone calls.


Below are some of the biggest additions to your iPhone with iOS 16.4. And here’s what you need to know before installing the update to help avoid running into issues with the download.
31 new emoji
The iOS 16.4 update brings 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, including pink and light blue.


Some of the new emoji released in iOS 16.4.
Patrick Holland/CNETThe new emoji all come from Unicode’s September 2022 recommendation list, Emoji 15.0.
Voice Isolation comes to cellular calls
Voice Isolation was introduced with iOS 15 in 2021, and at the time it worked only on FaceTime calls. Now with iOS 16.4, you can use the feature on your cellular calls too.
When enabled, Voice Isolation can help the person you’re on a call with hear you more clearly by muffling background sounds, like kids playing in the other room or construction outside your window. It could therefore cut back on the number of times you have to repeat yourself in a phone call because the other person can’t hear you.
Easily find photo duplicates across shared albums
In iOS 16.4, you can easily find duplicate photos in shared albums in Photos. If you share photos with family or friends via iCloud, iOS 16.4 will show you all the duplicates across albums. You can also Merge these duplicate photos.
Support for PlayStation 5 controller
According to MacRumors, iOS 16.4 adds support for the PlayStation 5 DualSense Edge Wireless Controller. You can use the controller to play controller-enabled games from services like Apple Arcade — a CNET Editors’ Choice award pick — on your iPhone.
Apple Books update
The page-turn curl animation is back in Apple Books with iOS 16.4, after it was removed in a previous iOS update. Before, when you turned a page in an ebook on your iPhone, the page would slide to one side of your screen or it would vanish and be replaced by the next page. You can still choose these other page-turn animations in addition to the curl animation.
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 iOS 16.4.
Zach McAuliffe/CNETThe Music interface has been slightly modified in iOS 16.4. 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 like in previous iOS versions.
Also, if you go into your Library in Music, you can organize your Library by Artist and tap into an artist, across the top of your page you will see an icon for that artist. A search bar used to be at the top of this page. Tap the artist’s icon and you will be taken to that artist’s Music page.
Apple Podcasts updates
Apple Podcasts also gets an update with iOS 16.4. Now you can access a Channels tab in your Library, which shows you different networks you follow. Tap into each channel and you can see the shows you subscribe to and other shows that channel produces.
See who and what is covered under AppleCare
With iOS 16.4, you can go to Settings > General > About > Coverage to check who and what devices are covered on your AppleCare plan. That way, if your AirPods break, you can easily check whether they’re covered. You can manage your coverage from here too.
Focus Mode filters added
If you have an iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max, iOS 16.4 lets you enable or disable the always-on display option with certain Focus Modes. When creating a new filter, scroll down to the bottom of the edit page, tap Focus Filter, then tap Always-On Display to enable or disable the display for that Focus Mode.
New Apple Wallet features
You can add three new order-tracking widgets for Apple Wallet to your home screen with iOS 16.4. 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 two rows on your iPhone’s screen.
Zach McAuliffe/CNETMore accessibility options
The update also adds new accessibility options. One 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. VoiceOver support has also been expanded to the maps and Weather apps.
Apple ID and beta software updates


The latest iOS update lets you sign into another Apple ID to access other beta software.
Zach McAuliffe/CNETWith iOS 16.4, 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 also lets you switch to that account from your device.
New keyboards, Siri voices and language updates
This iOS 16.4 update also adds 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.
Here are Apple’s release notes for iOS 16.4.
This update includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:
• 21 new emoji including animals, hand gestures, and objects are now available in emoji keyboard.
• Notifications for web apps added to the Home Screen.
. • Voice Isolation for cellular calls prioritizes your voice and blocks out ambient noise around you.
• Duplicates album in Photos expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library.
• VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app.
• Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected.
• Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent’s device.
• Addresses issues where Matter-compatible thermostats could become unresponsive when paired to Apple Home.
• Crash Detection optimizations on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models.
For more, check out how to enable Voice Isolation in phone calls, what might be coming to your iPhone with iOS 16.5 and what was included in iOS 16.3.1.
Technologies
Apple to Build the Mac Mini in the United States for the First Time
Apple will begin manufacturing the wee desktop computer in Houston later this year.
Houston, we have some production. Apple announced Tuesday that it will be making its Mac Mini desktop computer in the US for the first time, shifting some manufacturing from its Asian plants, and will also increase AI server production at its existing Houston facility.
The California-based tech giant also said it will open the Advanced Manufacturing Center, a 20,000-square-foot facility where students, supplier employees and businesses will receive hands-on training in making Apple products, in the same city.
In its statement, Apple said the new Mac Mini production and increased AI server production will create thousands of jobs.
The Mac Mini will be manufactured at a 220,000-square-foot facility in North Houston. The other main building at that site is where Apple makes AI servers. The new Advanced Manufacturing Center will also be built at that location. The buildings are owned by Foxconn, the Chinese manufacturing giant that Apple initially partnered with in 2000 to produce the iMac.
Sabih Khan, Apple’s chief operating officer, said there will still be Mac Mini production in Asia after the Houston plant is up and running, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
By beginning Mac Mini production in the US, Apple is furthering its pledge to invest $600 billion in the US over four years. That promise, made last August, was in response to pressure from President Donald Trump’s administration to increase manufacturing in the US and to avoid Trump-imposed tariffs.
Apple also said it is sourcing more than 20 billion chips from 24 US factories, and that, by the end of 2026, every new iPhone and Apple Watch will have cover glass made at Corning’s facility in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
CEO Tim Cook said his company is «deeply committed to the future of American manufacturing,» with production of the Mac Mini marking one step toward that commitment.
The Mac Mini, which initially went on sale in 2005 — CNET was there from the beginning — is the cheapest of the Apple desktops ($599 at the Apple store). It’s known as a BYODKM, an acronym coined by the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs that stands for «Bring Your Own Display, Keyboard, Mouse.» In other words, the Mac Mini — only 5 inches long and 5 inches wide — comes without those peripherals, making it cheaper for those who already have them.
«The Mini can fit in your hand and be everything from an everyday home office computer to a full-on professional content-creation machine,» CNET’s Joshua Goldman wrote in his review of the latest model in 2024.
Goldman also said the Mac Mini is a «perfect pairing» with Apple Intelligence, the company’s AI system that is integrated with iPhones, iPads and Macs.
Market research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimates that the Mini accounts for less than 5% of its global Mac sales, according to the WSJ report.
Apple will also ramp up production of its AI servers. The company said manufacturing is ahead of schedule, months after beginning production in October. The servers are used in Apple data centers around the US.
Technologies
Waymo’s Autonomous Ride Service Expands to 4 New Cities
The company has doubled its operating area for robotaxi services over the past several months.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Feb. 25, #990
Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Feb. 25 #990.
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 is kind of tough. That purple category, once again, expects you to spot hidden words that are related to each other within four of the grid words. It’s fun once you see the answer, but tough to figure out on your own. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times 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 the 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: What a parent should do for a child.
Green group hint: «____ my dear Watson.»
Blue group hint: Some go by Jim.
Purple group hint: Look for hidden words.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Care for.
Green group: Elementary.
Blue group: Jameses.
Purple group: Ending in family words.
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 care for. The four answers are baby, foster, mother and nurse.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is elementary. The four answers are basic, key, primary and principal.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is Jameses. The four answers are Brown, Cook, Dean and Harden.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is ending in family words. The four answers are alkaline (line), Declan (clan), diatribe (tribe) and napkin (kin).
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