Update your iPhone NOW: Apple releases iOS 17.4 with 118 new emoji including a lime, a phoenix, and four gender-neutral families - here's how to download it on your smartphone

iPhone users have just received a big update as Apple launches iOS 17.4.

The update brings major changes to security for iMessage, upgrades for the Podcast app, and 118 new emoji. 

Among them are a lime, a phoenix, a brown mushroom, a broken metal chain, two shaking heads and four gender neural families.

There's also more than 100 people facing sideways in a range of skin colours and genders, including some holding canes and others in wheelchairs. 

Here's how you can download the latest iOS 17.4 update to test the new emojis yourself.

iPhone users have just received a big update as Apple launches iOS 17.4. The update brings major changes to security for iMessage, upgrades for the Podcast app, and 118 new emoji 

The update brings in 118 new emojis from the latest release by Unicode, the central bank of all approved emojis. 

The vast majority (108) of the new characters are new 'direction-specifying' versions of the six existing person emojis.

This includes people facing sideways in a range of skin colours and genders, including some holding canes and others in wheelchairs.

Meanwhile, four new gender neutral families take the form of silhouettes, similar to the previous 'Bust in Silhouette' and 'Busts in Silhouette'. 

Apple's gender neural family emojis are white on a light blue background, and consist of two parents and a child, one parent and two children, one parent and one child, and two parents and two children.

The 118 new emojis mainly consist of new person emojis in a range of skin-tones but iOS 17.4 will also bring a 'yes' and 'no' shaking head, a phoenix, a lime, a mushroom, and a breaking chain

In addition to the new emojis, there are several changes coming in response to the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) - a new law aimed at removing the unfair advantages of tech giants. 

Under this law, Apple is required to allow developers to create and launch their own app stores for iPhone devices and offer apps through these. 

Most notably Epic, maker of the hit game Fortnite, is set to launch its own Epic Store this year which will allow European users to download games to their phones. 

The update will also allow apps to use the iPhone's contactless payment system for services other than Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.

These big changes will only be available in the EU, so UK users won't see any changes to the App Store.  

All users around the world will receive a major security update for iMessage.

iOS 17.4 introduces a new encryption system called PQ3 which is designed to protect users against so-called 'Harvest Now, Decrypt Later' attacks.

In these attacks, criminals harvest user data in the hopes that they will one day be able to crack the code when they have access to quantum computing.

In addition to these changes, iPhone users will also get some additional functionality and improvements to a few apps.

The Podcast app will be able to show live transcripts of any podcast in English, German, French or Spanish.

Users will be able to search for a specific word or phrase in the transcript to find their place in the podcast and tap on a word to start playing from there. 

The Podcast App will now automatically show transcripts of episodes. Users can read along with the podcast live (right) or search for specific words or phrases (left)

The iPhone 15 will also be able to display more information under the 'Battery Health' settings including cycle count, manufacture date, and when the battery was first used. 

Finally, the music recognition feature introduced in iOS 14.2 will let users add songs directly to their Apple Music library or playlists. 

How to download the update  

The iOS 17.4 update is compatible with the same range of iPhone models as iOS 17 - everything newer than the iPhone X range of phones and the second generation of iPhone SE.

To download the update, open your iPhone and navigate to the Settings app.

Select 'General' and then press 'Software Update'.

The rollout of the update may be gradual in some regions, but UK and US users should be able to see the prompt to download the update.

Make sure you are over at least 50 per cent battery, otherwise you won't be able to begin the download.

It may also be better to leave your phone to charge during the update to ensure that it does not run out of battery during the process. 

You will need at least 8.2GB of storage free - this won't be used up by the update but it is necessary to get started.

To save space you can 'Offload' apps under the 'Storage' settings which will store the app's data online until you need to download it again.