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Nothing wrong with this decision.

Microsoft's beta program is also enabled inside the Settings app.

I would like to see one more change.

Public Beta should run inside a sandbox environment. We see too many noobs install this and mess up their machines.
 
Why does Apple charge developers $99 per year? That is a hurdle for a kid that just creates an app for fun, which could generate a lot of money for Apple.

A developer fee isn't like some dumb Twitter subscription.

It comes with a lot of documentation, a line to Apple engineering and a lot of support when you need it. It's called a program for a reason.
 
I wish they'd stop with the forced annual "updates"

We never get to enjoy polished releases anymore

The entire cycle for a given iOS is busy trying to "fix it" .. rinse and repeat

If the rest of the industry releases annual updates you have to do it too. It's a big competition and there's no way to tell the competitors 'Can you please stop releasing annual updates so we can slow down too.'

That would be like Versace telling Marc Jacobs to stop doing two runway shows a year.

Versace 'Can you please only do one show a year. We only want to focus on one show next year'

MJ 'No you're just playing mind games with us so that we slow down'
 
I would not be surprised if Apple completely eliminates the public beta program. The public is there to provide good feedback which is to provide improvement and stability. However, Apple doesn’t seem to think that way anymore.

Bottom line: Pay the $99 Developer Fee. That’s what Apple wants.

Unlikely, as Apple specifically list a “Public Beta” option in 16.4 beta. Besides, the more testers, the merrier. I personally usually join the iOS beta at around PB3 and give my share of feedback.
 
A beta programme is not supposed to be used for customer feedback. It's supposed to be there so that developers can integration test their apps against the new OS build and validate that nothing has been broken by any changes. When the vendor drops the RTM version, the customers are supposed to get a finished product.

Granted the definition of "finished" seems to stop around 80% now.

Apple’s own description of their beta program reads:

“Help make the next releases of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS and HomePod software our best yet. As a member of the Apple Beta Software Program, you can take part in shaping Apple software by test-driving pre-release versions and letting us know what you think.”

Seems to imply some sort of feedback, no?
 
Why does Apple charge developers $99 per year? That is a hurdle for a kid that just creates an app for fun, which could generate a lot of money for Apple.
#1: to prevent regular users from getting beta software, as many people would criticize Apple for things like data loss and lots of bugs
#2: MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY
 
iOS 17 is gonna be such a minor update just like iOS 16 apart from Lock Screen changes we have had nothing for 2 years, it’s upsetting 10 years and same look. I think the whole beta thing isn’t worth it anymore, seeing as iOS 17 is just a minor bug fix update why does it even need 3 months of beta testing?
Have you seen the roadmap and committed and proposed feature list for iOS 17?
 
I'm usually all for calling out Apple for greediness but in this case I don't see anything wrong here. Now whether the developer accounts should have a charge is a different discussion but why would a regular user need access to the developer beta?
 
I disagree. Just seems like apple cares less about bugs these days, more people devs or not using the betas equals more bug reports and testing, you have to have some technical knowledge to know about beta profiles and where to get them to run betas so it’s not your average noob running them, Still think the more free testing they get would out weight any issues they get from people going to stores ect running betas without dev accounts, only gain I see for apple is more $ as may get extra one or two eager people buy dev accounts instead of profile use

I’m not a dev but used to have a dev account for years and run betas and used to send in feedback and reports but then stopped paying and just used profiles since
I wonder if the quality of bug reports from non-devs using the developer beta may be lacking? I have a feeling many of the non-devs on the developer beta don't even report bugs and just want early access.
 
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