Apple confirms hidden iOS 26 security update, and Google confirms silent iOS 18 spyware compromise. What you need to know and do.

Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4, which means we're going to see a public launch as soon as next week. The RC versions of the software include Apple's official release notes,

OS 26.4 is the next big iPhone release, and Apple plans to enable a key security feature by default in the update: Stolen Device Protection.

OS 26.3.1(a) arrives as a background security update with a WebKit navigation API input-validation fix, with no new features expected.

All iPhone users running iOS 13 or iOS 14 need to update now. Apple has confirmed routine browsing can trigger attacks on outdated iOS versions.

OS 26.4 is almost here, packed with a lot of new features, including three that have a good chance of becoming daily go-tos for users.

With iOS 26.4, 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.

Macworld Last year’s 26-branded operating system updates, including macOS 26, watchOS 26, and visionOS 26 as well as the iPhone’s iOS 26, were dominated by a single but very broad design change. A new look called Liquid Glass was brought in across all of Apple’s devices,