iOS 12’s Public Beta: Availability, News and Updates

With several weeks of the new iOS public beta under the community’s collective belts, it’s hard not to be at least a little excited about Apple’s new offerings.

Newcomers to the Apple bubble may be more excited with the beta’s features than long-term users, but even the most veteran of iOS update survivors will be able to find something new to tinker around with either in the form of new built-in productivity tools or improved features that aim to bolster the performance of an already strong platform. Interested? Good news, then: It’s an open beta currently accepting all comers.

Incremental updates, notable improvements

Many of the newer features to iOS 12 have been making the rounds in the weeks preceding its imminent beta release. Chances are you won’t be shocked to hear about improvements to FaceTime that allow for up to 32 simultaneous participants or the potentially horrifying Memoji, but there’s more to the beta than a few new toys to play with. Performance is a recurring concern with platform updates yet Apple reports an improvement in older phone performance by between 40 and 70 percent. This only applies to certain tasks, but it does offer hope to those who haven’t bought into the latest model.

Many of the growing pains from the iOS 11 beta that plagued phones seem to have been solved. Reports of phone freezes and repeat crashes seem to be a much less common occurrence to the point where using it on your primary device may not be as inadvisable as it was with the last open beta.

If anything, 12 seems to be a step ahead even in its beta state in a way that puts the latest stable release of 11 to shame.

The boons of early adaptation

Chances are those of you with an older phone weren’t exactly dying to try out experimental software on your older devices. Hopefully, news of its performance enhancement on last generation’s models have put those fears to rest, but it turns out late adopters may not just rest in the consumer sector: IT professionals and tech workers should be looking to adapt to the beta on more than just a personal test level.

Many tech firms adapt to the wide release of platform software but we’re reaching a point where the open beta stage of a release can essentially be looked at as a stress test for immediate full release. Waiting to adapt puts professionals behind the curve, which only serves to slow down prevention of easily detected pains that should have been caught in the weeks leading up to release. Sure, there’s the Apple developer beta you can buy into to better adapt, but at this stage of release, it hardly feels as necessary.

So whether you’re looking for improved app launching speed or just want to see how bizarre your digital self can look with the help of a Memoji, the iOS 12 beta is open and waiting for you to give it a go. Phones both old and new seem to be taking to it well, so don’t be afraid to see what everyone is so excited about.