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The past six releases have all been in September, so September 2018 is likely when iOS 12 will be released. Betas will be available for developers and public beta testers before then, but I wouldn't recommend installing a beta on your main device.
 
How do I get beta?

You either pay Apple $100/year to become a developer or wait until Apple releases a public beta. Typically with X.0 releases the public beta is 2 weeks after the initial release iirc. Co my guess would be June 18th at the earliest for public beta, Monday after the WWDC keynote if you join the Dev program.
 
If iOS12 is all about the bug fixes this year, then maybe the betas will actually improve performance? LOL.
 
Any rumored wallpapers really stealing the show so far? There was a desert theme that seemed promising but it was since debunked almost as fast as it was leaked.
 
How do I get beta?
Unless you have two phones, I wouldn't suggest running beta on the only phone you have. Beta software can be very buggy and make your phone hard to use or even unusable at times. Running beta can also mean having to reset your entire phone, short battery life usage etc.

Unless you are familiar and feel at ease with using DFU mode, and installing the beta or developer profile on your phone, as well as downloading the install file etc. it is best to stay away from running beta.
 
Unless you have two phones, I wouldn't suggest running beta on the only phone you have. Beta software can be very buggy and make your phone hard to use or even unusable at times. Running beta can also mean having to reset your entire phone, short battery life usage etc.

Unless you are familiar and feel at ease with using DFU mode, and installing the beta or developer profile on your phone, as well as downloading the install file etc. it is best to stay away from running beta.

Yeah all depends on the version. I’ve run beta before with absolutely no issues. But usually it’s when they get closer to the official release. As long as you know how to create backups with iTunes and restore, there’s not a lot of risk involved.
 
And prepare to walk around with a battery pack, there's always one beta that nukes your battery life :-D

PS 5 hrs to go. Can't wait!
 
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Yeah all depends on the version. I’ve run beta before with absolutely no issues. But usually it’s when they get closer to the official release. As long as you know how to create backups with iTunes and restore, there’s not a lot of risk involved.

The biggest issue with running betas these days, in the early part of the cycle anyway, is with incompatiblity of key apps.
 
If you're thinking about running the beta, here are some things to think about:
  • If you're not an Apple Dev (paid $99/yr account) don't ask anyone here to give you the profile. You'll get your wrist slapped (at best) and for good reason.
  • If you are a paid dev, but not really a developer, think long and hard before installing beta 1 on your daily driver. At least, wait a few days (hours?) and read what people are saying here in the forums. If there's a showstopper, it should show up relatively quickly and save you a lot of pain. Installing it as soon as the beta drops is, in this particular case, not a great idea.
  • Create an backup of your phone/device as it exists immediately before you install the beta. Make sure its an encrypted, archived backup or you risk (a) overwriting it with the first backup you do in iOS 12 and (b) if its not encrypted, you will lose your health data if you need to restore back to iOS 11. Instructions to create this backup are here: https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/create-an-archived-itunes-backup/
 
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Create an archived backup of your phone/device as it exists immediately before you install the beta. Make sure its an encrypted, archived backup or you risk (a) overwriting it with the first backup you do in iOS 12 and (b) if its not encrypted, you will lose your health data if you need to restore back to iOS 11.

How does one create an archive of the backup?
 
Yeah, don't install beta's on a device you use everyday.

*ten minutes after the keynote*
Urgghhh, why is the install so sloooooooooooooow
Yeah—if there is a dark mode, IDK if I can stop myself from installing it on my iPhone X. Probably a horrible idea but I'm full of horrible ideas.
 
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