Owners of an iPhone or iPad with iOS 18.4 look set to get cooking with new recipe-reading features connected with magazines on Apple News.
Ever since our Google Nest Hub stopped showing recipes properly and started showing mediocre web browser views without the interactive approach to cooking, we’ve wondered “what next”.
Now, it turns out Apple could have exactly that for owners of the iPhone and the iPad, provided they have an Apple News+ subscription, or have that subscription included as part of an Apple One account.
Ahead of the next version of iOS, iOS 18.4, Apple is previewing what’s to come, and recipes are a big part of it. You could say the main course.
As part of the update, Apple News+ will gain a section called “Apple News+ Food”, where stories from the world’s food magazines already on Apple News+ will be able to see a recipe catalogue complete with ingredients, directions, and a step-by-step mode that can even see the recipes saved for offline use.
If you fancy yourself a bit of a foodie, it’s a big addition, but one that will need an Apple News+ account, similar to how the recent Apple Invites app requires an iCloud account, or something like an Apple One account with the access included.
While the addition of a more focused approach to recipes will improve how you potentially read and cook with the likes of Delicious, Good Food, Olive, Southern Living, and other food mags, it doesn’t solve what we really want: a water and grease and butter and flour resistant iPad.
You can already wash your iPhone; the iPhone range has been water and dust resistant for years, ever since the iPhone 7 popped up, making it handy to cook with, provided you have a stand nearby.
It’s possible that Apple’s step-by-step instructions as part of Apple News+ Food will mean you won’t need to reach out to your iPad screen with greasy, flour-tipped fingers, but just in case, you might want to keep a soft cloth nearby to wipe that screen down.
