Apple Moves to Prevent iPhone Users From Getting iOS 17 Developer Beta for Free

[Pecka]

I payed for a developer account last year, but apart from the novelty of getting access to the new macOS version several months before release and before public beta testers, it just wasn't worth the money. I did report bugs however.

But I would never use beta versions on my Apple Watch or iPhone.

 

[CraigJDuffy]

No this exactly the opposite what Apple wants.

Regular people on public beta, developpers on developper beta. I don’t see why that might anger some people.

Because as a developer my work Apple ID is the one which has the dev profile but I run my apps on my personal device as well which is signed into my personal Apple ID.

Very common practice.

 

[CraigJDuffy]

How does that work if my dev AppleID is not the main iCloud account on my iPhone? I am certainly not going to sign in and out all the time just to install / update the beta! It would wipe all my stuff each time

To quote apple “you’re developing wrong. Just buy a whole iPhone that you solely use for testing”

 

[CraigJDuffy]

how is it supposed to work if the dev access is on a second Apple ID? Do I need to logout with my personal profile and login with the other one (company) to see the option? would be annoying.

You’re meant to have a dedicated device which stays logged into your company Apple ID which is used exclusively for testing.

 

[CraigJDuffy]

People who prefer to download the full installer rather than just point upgrades would definitely appreciate this.

Looks like they are getting rid of that too otherwise what’s stopping non devs doing this?

 

[Vlad Soare]

I’ve never complained to Apple about bugs on a beta for a major release, people actually do that??

Never underestimate human stupidity.

 

[Kazgarth]

Pay to beta test a software? It should be the other way around, since I'm suffering through their unfinished buggy software to provide them feedback.

 

[contacos]

To quote apple “you’re developing wrong. Just buy a whole iPhone that you solely use for testing”

Dumb. It is not enough to test on one device anyway. Hopefully we can continue to download the full ISPW files from the developer portal

 

[Cristim74]

Pay to beta test a software? It should be the other way around, since I'm suffering through their unfinished buggy software to provide them feedback.

Yes, developers pay to test beta software an implement the new features before the final release gets out.

 

[jamesjingyi]

Actually I think it might be in the other direction. You might be able to get the developer beta without installing even a profile in the future. The Apple TV I think works in the same way, that you just select which one you want to be on from the settings menu rather than going through all the IPSW stuff.

 

[contacos]

I have the option on my iPhone now and I am not signed into my AppleID with the developer account associated with it. Looks like they are not actually having any verification implemented yet. Simply being on a beta seems to be enough for now

 

[Cristim74]

Actually I think it might be in the other direction. You might be able to get the developer beta without installing even a profile in the future. The Apple TV I think works in the same way, that you just select which one you want to be on from the settings menu rather than going through all the IPSW stuff.

On the Apple TV menu you can select if you want to be part of the Public Beta, not the Developer Beta. Probably if you will be signed in with developer account you will be able to select to be part of the Developer Beta as well. They will most likely implement the same menu in the future on the iPhone and Mac, to be able to opt in for the Developer Beta or Public Beta, based on your account.

 

[Cristim74]

I have the option on my iPhone now and I am not signed into my AppleID with the developer account associated with it.

View attachment 2161605

That's probably because you are already running a Developer Beta.

 

[contacos]

That's probably because you are already running a Developer Beta.

Yeah I just installed it via ISPW file from the developer dashboard but I still assumed it would check if you are logged into your dev account on the device itself to get these options for the future. Guess no actual verification required

 

[Denzo]

Got it. I’m not installing any more Betas. Cool.

 

[Jason2000]

Man the complaints here are unreal. For those of you that are not happy with Apple there is Android. I play with Android along side iOS I can tell you it is not any more stable. Google releases an update every month and every month they break something. They need to get away from this yearly update. Too much pressure and not enough time to get things right. Same with hardware.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

I wish Apple would get rid of public betas altogether. It makes them feel like every other tech company. We know what's coming, more or less, six months or more before it gets released. I miss the old days when there really were surprises, when "one more thing" actually meant something.

what on earth is this paragraph?
So you don’t think Apple should have public Betas because it… Ruins the surprise? Despite the fact that Apple announces all of their new features months before the Public Beta launches? And either way people are going to know what’s new with an OS because of a developer beta.
Also… um… Apple has been doing Public Betas for decades.
There was a Mac OS X 10.0 Public Beta in 2000, a FaceTime for Mac public beta, Safari’s big feature updates used to be released as public betas… the list goes on.
If it makes Apple feel like “ every other tech company”, that’s maybe because Apple *is* a tech company.

 

[nt5672]

Not when even official releases are riddled with bugs and incomplete features.

Not just incomplete features, but completely missing functionality that only appears in the final release. As a small developer we don't have the resources to handle Apple's inconsistencies in quality and functionality with beta releases.

Every other company would call these Apple's beta releases alpha or POC releases. Apple's final releases are really beta releases for other companies.

 

[nt5672]

Man the complaints here are unreal. For those of you that are not happy with Apple there is Android. I play with Android along side iOS I can tell you it is not any more stable. Google releases an update every month and every month they break something. They need to get away from this yearly update. Too much pressure and not enough time to get things right. Same with hardware.

This is a huge problem in the tech world. Just because someone else does it, does not mean that it is a good practice. Just because something is done by everyone else does not mean that we have to be happy with it.

If you want the world to change, people need to set clear expectations. Being unhappy is an expression of expectation. The louder people complain the more visibility and the better the chance of change.

 

[ninecows]

Wait… I thought we were all still beta testing 16.x? Why would I want to beta test two major versions at once?

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Anyone ever think… maybe Apple didn’t do this for money or to crack down on anything…
But maybe they did it because it’s literally an improvement that needed to happen?
The “profiles” system was already quite dumb, and even getting public beta profiles wasn’t always the most straightforward system.
Now, it’s literally right there in the software update settings, where it belongs.
It’s been in the Apple TV and HomePod settings for a while now, this is a good move.

 

[Ctrlos]

This is designed 100% to stop YouTubers getting the details out on a bug-ridden beta to the public

 

[Ctrlos]

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.

You do have to still wonder, especially when the buy-in is a minimum M2 Pro machine to do any real dev work. Microsoft charge a one-off $12 fee that lasts forever.

Apple have the capacity to turn this around of course. They could open iPadOS up to sideloading but limit it to an internal school or company-based portal where kids can share their IT lesson-developed apps with each other or companies can use it for testing.

 

[kesenwangs]

Back in the day to get the betas, your device ID had to be registered on a dev account for it to “verify” install. Dev accounts can have (I think) 100 devices registered to the beta program account. I always did it for the single digit IOS releases when it was required. I paid a guy every year, and he added my device ID on it.

This is still a thing tho, not required but you can still enroll devices by UUID in the developer profile so it doesn’t put your device “out of warranty”.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

This is hilarious. Apple admits they have a problem with their bug reporting system. So, instead of fixing the problem, they just make sure a bunch of their most dedicated users can’t report bugs for, what, a month? As per usual, Apple has placed secrecy above all else: if you can’t run the betas, you can’t experience and report on the bugs.

It’s not that much of a secret though, if you want the “secret” that bad and you can’t wait the extra three weeks for the public beta you’ll pay the $99.
Or you can pay someone online to let you have access to their developer account of course but… again at that point if you really want it that bad just pay the $99.
This is literally how it used to be for years, iPhone OS 2 to at least iOS 8. Unless you were willing to do some shady business, the only way to get the beta was to sign up for a paid developer account.
And somehow, for those eight years, Youtubers still put out their videos, people still widely and openly talked about their experience using them, and especially back then Apple absolutely hated it.