After a month of testing, Apple has already launched the Public Betas of its next updates: iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15, watchOS 11, tvOS 18 and HomePod OS 18. Do you want to try them? We explain how to do it safely and for free.
Surely you already know what’s new in iOS 18 and the rest of the updates that will arrive after the summer, and that may be why you want to try them before they are officially available. Well, now you can try them, although it is important that you know some important details before doing so, because as their name suggests, they are betas and therefore are not free of errors.
- These are trial versions Although they are quite stable, they may contain errors that force you to go back, and for this it is important that you do not lose information, so it is essential that you make a backup copy of your devices before proceeding with the installation of the Beta.
- No application incompatibilities or serious bugs have been found in the betas so far.. Battery consumption is a little higher but nothing striking, and there are no overheating problems with the iPhone with the Betas that we had in other years. But these are problems that can appear at any time, so you have to be aware that it can happen.
- The best part is that Try Betas on devices other than the ones you use daily. If your iPhone is essential to you, or your Mac, and you can’t afford to leave it locked all the time, don’t install the beta. He who is forewarned is forearmed.
- Avoid unofficial websites or “strange” procedures. Apple’s Public Beta program is official, free and very easy to use, so always use its official website to install Betas, avoid other systems.
Public Beta Program
The public beta is the same as the developer beta, it is just released later to make sure there are no major bugs. Let’s say that those who use the public beta are the second ones to try it, the first ones are the developers. That’s why the Public betas always lag behind developer betas. The first public beta is the third (actually fourth) developer beta, and subsequent public betas will always arrive 24 or 48 hours after the corresponding developer beta. In other words, if there are any major bugs, the public beta usually won’t suffer from them. But I repeat: this is a beta, so you are assuming a risk by installing it.
How to Install iOS 18 Public Beta on iPhone
To do this, the first thing to do is Sign up for Apple’s public beta program. To do this, you must go to the beta.apple.com website and sign up with your Apple account, the same one you have on the device you want to update to this beta. Once this is done, you will be in the program and you will be able to install the betas of all devices on all those who have the Apple account you used to sign up.
Now you need to go to your iPhone settings and the tab “General > Software Update”, a new menu “Beta Updates” will appear. If it doesn’t appear, restart your iPhone and it should appear. In this menu, you will have two options:
- No: to stop installing Betas. At any time you can choose this option and you will stop receiving sBeta updates, however, you will continue with the version you already have installed until an official version higher than this one is released.
- iOS 18 Public Beta– Choose this option to install the public beta of iOS 18.
The other options you see in the image will not appear to you, they are other beta programs that I am enrolled in, so you do not need to pay attention to them.
Similar procedure on the rest of the devices
If you want install the Beta on another device (iPad, Apple Watch, Mac…) the procedure is the same. As your Apple account is already registered in the program, you do not need to repeat the first part of the tutorial, just go to the device settings and choose the program. It is necessary that all devices have the same Apple account, since this will be the one used to detect that you are in the Public Beta program and thus be able to install it.
