You Can Install the IOS 17 Beta, but You Probably Shouldn’t.

iOS 17 is on the way . The new software introduces features like live voicemail, the ability to turn anything into a sticker, and a standby mode that turns your iPhone into a mini smart display. However, it’s not quite ready yet – Apple always launches a new software release with a developer-only beta, then releases a public beta next month for all other interested testers. However, this year Apple has made the first developer beta of iOS 17 available to anyone who wants to try it out. But should you?

Why is the iOS 17 developer beta available to everyone?

Honestly? No clue. This may be a bug, but since developer betas for macOS Sonoma and watchOS 10 are also available, this seems intentional.

In the past, installing Apple’s developer beta required enrolling in the Apple Developer Program , which costs $99 per year. You can find developer beta profiles online, but Apple has banned this by forcing developers to enroll in betas directly on their devices , starting with iOS 16.4 .

However, this year, if you simply log into the Apple Developer site with your Apple ID, you can access the developer beta on your iPhone. The same goes for anyone who previously enrolled their device in the public beta program. Go find out.

You may not want to install the iOS 17 beta.

First, a word of caution: beta software is, by definition, unfinished. This is the period when iOS 17 is good enough to come out of Apple’s inner circle, but not ready for use by the general public. In fact, we’re in the first phase of a beta cycle, a developer beta designed specifically for software developers to get an edge when testing the new OS with their apps.

All of this to say that there is no guarantee that this iOS 17 beta will run smoothly. In fact, there is a high probability that this will not happen. For this reason, it is not recommended to install the beta version on the main iPhone. You may encounter zero issues, some minor glitches, or some iPhone-breaking bugs. There’s no way to tell this before installing it, so it’s wiser to either install the beta on an additional device or, if you don’t have one, avoid the beta altogether, or at least wait until Apple releases a public beta . month.

Of course, there is no law against installing a beta version on your primary iPhone. If you proceed with the installation, make sure all your important data is backed up in a safe place, ideally on your computer via the Finder (or iTunes on Windows and older versions of macOS). This way, if for any reason you need to revert to iOS 16.5, all your data prior to installing the beta will be preserved. However, you may lose data added after installing the beta. Again, this is a risky business.

How to Install the iOS 17 Developer Beta

To install the iOS 17 beta, you’ll need a compatible iPhone. This year it starts with the iPhone XS and newer . Apple has slaughtered the iPhone X, 8 and 8 Plus, which are destined to run forever on iOS 16.

If you previously enrolled your iPhone in Apple’s beta program, skip the paragraph. Otherwise, go to developer.apple.com . Tap the menu at the top left, select Account, then enter the Apple ID and password you use to sign in to iPhone. Return to the “Account” menu again, then accept the Apple Developer Agreement by clicking “I Agree.”

Go to Settings > General > Software Update and make sure your iPhone is fully up to date. If not, please update. If so, restart your iPhone. Either way, go back to Settings > General > Software Update and click Beta Updates . Here you should see “iOS 17 Developer Beta” as an option. Tap it, press Back, then let the page refresh. When “iOS 17 Developer Beta” is available, click “Download and Install” to continue.

[ Macrumors ]