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, you can now try them, although it is important that you know some important details before doing so, because as their name indicates, they are Betas and therefore are not free of errors.
- They are trial versions that although they are quite stable, they may contain errors that force you to have 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 to install the Beta.
- No application incompatibilities or serious bugs have been found so far in the Betas.. The battery consumption is somewhat higher but nothing striking, and there are no overheating problems with the iPhone with the Betas that we did have in other years. But they are problems that can appear at any time, so you must be aware that it can happen.
- The best is that Try the Betas on devices other than the main ones you use on a daily basis. If your iPhone is essential to you, or your Mac, and you can't afford to have it leave you stranded at any time, don't install the Beta. Who Forewarned is forearmed.
- Avoid unofficial websites or “strange” procedures. Apple's Public Beta program is official, free and very simple to use, so always use its official website to install the 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 to try it, the first are the developers. That's why the Public Betas always lag behind Developer Betas. The first Public Beta is the third (actually the fourth) Developer Beta, and subsequent Public Betas will always arrive 24 or 48 hours after the corresponding Developer Beta. That is, if there are important bugs, the Public Beta generally does not suffer them. But I repeat: it is a Beta so you assume a risk when installing it.
How to install the iOS 18 Public Beta on the iPhone
To do this, the first thing you have to do is Sign up for Apple's Public Beta program. To do this you must go to the website beta.apple.com and register with your Apple account, the same one you have on the device you want to update to that Beta. Once that is done, you will be inside the program and you will be able to install the Betas of all the devices on all those that have that Apple account that you used to sign up.
Now you must go to the Settings of your iPhone and within the tab «General>Software Update» a new menu «Beta Updates» will appear. If it doesn't appear, restart your iPhone and it should appear. Within that menu you will have two options:
- No: to stop installing the Betas. At any time you can choose that option and you will stop receiving sBeta updates, however, you will continue with the version you already have installed until an official one higher than it is released.
- IOS 18 Public Beta- Choose this option to install the iOS 18 Public Beta.
The other options that you see in the image will not appear to you, they are other Beta programs in which I am enrolled so you do not have to pay attention to them.
Similar procedure on the rest of the devices
If you would like to 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 have 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, as it will be the one used to detect that you are in the Public Beta program and thus be able to install it.
