Friendly reminder before Monday... Beta software is highly buggy and should only be installed on secondary devices, it is not a shortcut to the latest and greatest.

By Unregistered User (not verified), 6 June, 2024

Forum
Apple Beta Releases

Hi all.

I know most of you are aware of this, but for those who are new to apple, this forum or the idea of betas, and perhaps a reminder to a few regular posters, you should not rely on beta software. Monday will bring a new operating system for IOS, iPad OS, Mac OS, Watch OS and TV OS. All of these, in time, will be released as a beta for Apple to get feedback from developers and the public and work through bugs.

In the past people have installed the beta and been upset that it doesn't work, issues with voiceover or general functionality being hobbled enough to make devices very hard to use.

We rely heavily on our devices for mobility, for communication, for accessing documents and a multitude of other tasks that make our lives, as blind people, easier. By all means, install betas, but I do strongly suggest you do not install on a primary device and, though I know there is a huge temptation to get the latest features from the big fruit, September is the time to install if you want the best experience.

Personally, I'm going to install a beta on my iPad mini and create an APFS volume for testing purposes and to give feedback for both to improve the product. Beta testing should be approached like a job though, it's time consuming, and interesting to some, but it's broken until its not.

As I say, most of you are aware of this, I just wanted to point out the trap we've all fallen into in the past. The worst I had was my phone freezing when I was outside a pub that had closed, in the rain, when I'd told my friends to go home as I was fine getting an Uber... I was not... I'm still there six years later....

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Comments

By Holger Fiallo on Thursday, June 6, 2024 - 21:52

I am not planning to install it in my iPad 9 until beta 3 or 4. In my 13 pro until beta 4.

By Unregistered User (not verified) on Thursday, June 6, 2024 - 22:55

Last year before ios 17 beta came out apple made dev betas free to use

Just go to the developer website and create an account and you should see ios 18 developer beta in settings > general > software update > beta updates

After tapping ios 18 beta, go back and it should show up

By Dennis Long on Thursday, June 6, 2024 - 22:59

I have always installed on my main device. Yes of course I got the bugs but I also got the improvements and fixes.

By Kushal Solanki on Friday, June 7, 2024 - 00:42

I unfortunately do not have a secondary device so I install betas on my main device.
I have been beta testing since IOS 12 and over the years I have noticed that every year the betas seem to get stablestable.
Obviously there will be bugs and even it may break sometimes.
If you can stand the bugs then you can install on your main device.
If someone does have a secondary device for testing then that is ideal.

By Brooke on Friday, June 7, 2024 - 01:21

I enjoy beta testing but would never install a beta on my primary device. I'd rather not deal with the possibility that an app I rely on may no longer work. It's just not worth it to me.

By PaulMartz on Friday, June 7, 2024 - 01:22

For everyone who loads the first iOS beta, please keep us informed. I have only one iOS device and would really like to peek at the beta. But I'd like some sense of what to expect before I make the switch. Thanks in advance, I appreciate this.

By Chris on Friday, June 7, 2024 - 12:22

Since iOS isn't my primary mobile platform anymore, I don't really care what happens to my iPhone. I'll install the beta on my iPhone 11 and iPad 7 if they're compatible. The iPhone 8 and X are stuck on iOS 16, and there's a good chance the XR and XS will be stuck on 17. We'll find out which devices receive new software on Monday. I expect this to be the last major year for Intel Macs, with support running out by the end of 2027.

By JC on Friday, June 7, 2024 - 13:37

Same here. Good luck to those that will be beta testing this year. I'm just going to stick to the current release and wait until September like everyone else. I'll still read the comments and what people think throughout the beta cycle.

By Brian on Friday, June 7, 2024 - 13:46

For the first time, as far as I can remember, I have access to a secondary device; my old iPhone SE2. I think it has something like iOS 17.3 or 17.4 currently. maybe I will play around with beta testing this time around. I have beta tested software before, but never anything from Apple since for the longest time I only ever had a single (primary) device, and would not want to risk beta testing with that. 🤷

I have my doubts that an iPhone with only about 3gb of ram will get access, or rather full functionality, of all the new features. We will see, I suppose. . . .

By SeasonKing on Friday, June 7, 2024 - 17:48

No way I am doing a full time job for Apple without getting a massive cheque for it in return. Apple can very well aford to pay thousands like me to do that job.
I am staying on stable releases, and I am going to vocally complain at every place I can find, when I find something wrong. You ain't sucking money out of people's pockets and being the world's richest company for selling bugs. Shape up or shape out...Simple

By Holger Fiallo on Friday, June 7, 2024 - 17:56

From what I heard the new siri will work only for 15 pro and up. Not sure about 15 or plus.

By Unregistered User (not verified) on Friday, June 7, 2024 - 18:31

I will be installing the beta on my iPad 9 if its supported of corse, i dont see why it wouldnt be but apple does strange things sometimes

By Lielle Ben simon on Saturday, June 8, 2024 - 09:20

I install it on my secondary iPhone 14 Pro, and suggest to you to do the same.
Perssonaly I excited because iOS 18 will allow me to set Braille table for reading and one for writing.

By Brian on Saturday, June 8, 2024 - 13:20

When beta testing Apple's OSs, should one disable iCloud on the beta software, or will that matter?

Thanks in advance.

By PaulMartz on Saturday, June 8, 2024 - 21:15

I've got an iPad Pro I bought new in February 2022. I bet that's got an M1 in it. Now, if I can just wrest it away from my spouse, who has been using it as the world's most expensive eBook reader...

By TheBlindGuy07 on Sunday, June 9, 2024 - 01:21

I'll just dualboot the developer beta on my base model m2pro. I really really hope that my free time allow me to send that big accessibility bug report that macos deserves. I asume that at least the calculator will be improved with voiceover if they plan on somehow porting the ios / the new ipados version to the mac. ... It couldn't be worst than what we currently have anyway.