Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Apple Releases First Public Beta Of iOS 11 for iPhone and iPad

Posted by msmash on from the beta-software-time dept.

Zac Hall, writing for 9to5Mac: Apple has released the first macOS High Sierra public beta for Mac. This allows users who are not registered developers to test pre-release versions of macOS with new features for free. Prior to the public beta availability, macOS High Sierra has only been available to test with a $99/year developer account. You can register for the free public beta program here. [Note: some outlets report that the update is still "coming soon." [...] Apple has released the first iOS 11 public beta for iPhone and iPad. This allows users who are not registered developers to test pre-release versions of iOS with new features for free. You can register for the free public beta program here..

56 comments

  1. You pay to be beta testers, now. by Khyber · · Score: 0

    Used to be beta testers were the ones getting paid.

    But then you suckers decided to support companies like Apple and Google with their shit release and testing practices.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    1. Re: You pay to be beta testers, now. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Itâ(TM)s free dumbass. You arenâ(TM)t paying for anything for the public beta. If you want early access to developer builds you only need a free developer account.

    2. Re: You pay to be beta testers, now. by cant_get_a_good_nick · · Score: 1

      their point was - you're doing Apple/Google's QA work for them, for free. The inference that this qa work should be compensated for.

      That said, i disagree with their anger. If you don't want the beta, don't install it. it won't randomly end up on your device. You know you're not getting paid, just do you want to spend the effort to install it and deal with bugs to see new features.

    3. Re:You pay to be beta testers, now. by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 2

      Used to be beta testers were the ones getting paid.

      But then you suckers decided to support companies like Apple and Google with their shit release and testing practices.

      Ever hear of "Fuzzing"?

      There is only so much one can learn from test scripts and even a limited pool of human alpha and beta testers.

      To really find MOST (nothing ever finds ALL) of the most obscure errors, nothing beats a huge base of random user setups and user actions..

    4. Re: You pay to be beta testers, now. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uh, the Developer account is $99/year.

      You're still paying, dumbass.

      He said "public beta", you dumbass.

    5. Re: You pay to be beta testers, now. by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      What part of the summary did you not understand "public beta". If you had Developer's access you were granted earlier access but as of now, it's public.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    6. Re: You pay to be beta testers, now. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only dumbass is you. It's a PUBLIC beta. Also, if you don't want to "test" for Apple then don't.

    7. Re: You pay to be beta testers, now. by Dog-Cow · · Score: 3, Informative

      It's not for free. It's for a preview of upcoming attractions. If that's of any value to you, you install the update. If it's not, you ignore it. Who, in their right mind, would install an iOS beta if they weren't interested?

    8. Re:You pay to be beta testers, now. by antdude · · Score: 2

      I guess Apple got rid of its SQA like MS and many others companies. No wonder I can't find many SQA jobs, and get hired. :(

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    9. Re: You pay to be beta testers, now. by cant_get_a_good_nick · · Score: 1

      Yes. That's pretty much my point.

      That, and "hey you get new features". We've gotten spoiled for Apple updates for free. They spend money coding new features, testing them, and you get them on your existing phone for free. Not only do people bitch about "oh, we're not paid for the beta" but we have expectations we get everything. You get people complaining that "apple as feature X for the iphone 7 but my 6 doesn't get it"... as if they can add better hardware through the beta program.

      I can't get a fridge update that makes it faster. I can't get a socket wrench update that makes it easier to turn. But i have lots of expectations for a free update to my phone that adds features.

    10. Re: You pay to be beta testers, now. by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 1

      Youâ(TM)re talking like I get nothing out of this. I get features I want, and all I have to do is file a bug report now and then.

      Iâ(TM)m the sort of person that played World of Warcraft and was excited for patch notes day, even if I never used any of those features. Lots of people here have used or contributed to open source projects. Sometimes their contribution was only reporting bugs.

      Today I stumbled across a bug that requires trying to reblog a tumblr post from a webview thatâ(TM)s not in Safari or the tumblr app, but causes an infinite redirection loop between tumblr and Safari, and is difficult to stop because the multitasking interface doesnâ(TM)t interrupt the redirection or give you enough time to kill either app. How in the world would Apple OR tumblr guess to do that test? And now I can be reasonably sure someone will look at that problem and I wonâ(TM)t have it anymore. Iâ(TM)ve bought myself future functionality for a few minutes out of my day.

      If you donâ(TM)t want to install it, donâ(TM)t. Iâ(TM)m happy to do it. (And as long as I have the feedback app installed, I also report âoebugsâ that are just things that make me crazy. Also a good trade off.)

    11. Re: You pay to be beta testers, now. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > their point was - you're doing Apple/Google's QA work for them, for free.

      No. You aren't doing shit. There is a huge difference between debugging an app/OS and toying with it for fun. You don't have to send reports or anything at all so STFU.

      Also, if people wants to run beta software willingly it's their problem, not yours.

    12. Re: You pay to be beta testers, now. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To be Frank there's been things that Apple don't enable on older devices without it beeing tied to hardware.

    13. Re: You pay to be beta testers, now. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can't opt out of your device phoning home with usage data on Apple's new betas. You can on release versions but not beta versions. This is what you provide - Apple don't need 8.000.000 reports on how the camera works, they want feedback from the camera app.

  2. Re: Programmed device death number 6 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Could you imagine if you could run iOS 7/8.x and still have security updates? No one would ever buy new Apple products.

  3. Beta filesystem by Espectr0 · · Score: 2

    Using a beta with a brand new filesystem. Nothing bad can come from that.

    --
    Open Source Java Web Forum with LDAP authentication
    1. Re:Beta filesystem by Rei_is_a_dumbass · · Score: 1, Informative

      Using a final with a brand new filesystem. Nothing bad will come from that.

      The same file system has been working on millions of iPhones and iPads already.

    2. Re:Beta filesystem by Espectr0 · · Score: 2

      if you believe the desktop implementation has been copy pasted from ios i have a bridge to sell you. even if that were true many bugs may arise, for example in the installer.

      --
      Open Source Java Web Forum with LDAP authentication
    3. Re:Beta filesystem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm pretty certain it's the exact same code running on iOS and macOS.

      Bugs and issues to be found? Probably, it's a beta.

    4. Re: Beta filesystem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why not?

      A few revisions ago my UPS stopped working properly with OS X. I dug into the source code for that daemon on opensource.apple.com and discovered they'd replaced a large chunk of code that looked like it had been cut and pasted from iOS- it even referenced the cell phone's battery several times within the comments. It seems like they'd gone from treating UPS units as some sort of external battery to treating it like some sort of internal battery and used code from iOS to do that.

      I had to compile my own version of the older daemon to get things working again. They still haven't fixed the bugs they introduced by doing that, nor does it appear like they care (any bugs I've filed on radar have been totally ignored).

      Apple certainly isn't opposed to cut and pasting code between operating systems. Their bread and butter is the handheld business, which is where the majority of their development takes place (APFS was, after all, a file system primarily designed for mobile devices).

    5. Re: Beta filesystem by Espectr0 · · Score: 1

      I didn't say portions of the code couldn't be copied. I said that the whole implementation is done differently. APFS wasn't designed primarily for IOS, that's false. It is a generic filesystem that was released first as an alpha for Sierra, but of course it makes sense to use a similar codebase for all devices

      --
      Open Source Java Web Forum with LDAP authentication
    6. Re: Beta filesystem by Dog-Cow · · Score: 2

      Are you ignorant of the fact that every iOS device running 10.3.3 (possible .2, but I'm not sure off hand) is already using APFS? That's orders of magnitude more devices than all the Macs running the beta.

    7. Re:Beta filesystem by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      The ARM (iOS) and x86 (macOS) versions of XNU (the kernel) are 99% the same. Apple open sources all of the macOS parts, but not the iOS-specific stuff (which didn't stop a friend in the CoreOS team porting it to run on his RPi - unfortunately he can't release it publicly). You can, nevertheless, see a lot of iOS kernel stuff in the open source releases because they'll release any file that's used in both, and that includes all of the filesystem stuff. Why do you think features from one keep appearing on the other.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    8. Re:Beta filesystem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      APFS has been in use on iOS for a good few months already - I've not seen a single post of anyone getting a hosed FS.

      You have no clue.

    9. Re: Beta filesystem by Mattskimo · · Score: 1

      Not every device running 10.3.2 will be using APFS, and I suspect the same is true for 10.3.3 when it is released soon. With APFS being 64-bit only, the 32-bit devices currently running iOS 10.x almost certainly won't have been switched across. These are also the devices for which 10.3.3 will probably be the final compatible version of iOS: iPhone 5, iPhone 5C and iPad 4. See: http://iossupportmatrix.com/

  4. Re:Who cares? by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

    Who cares what features are in the festering pile of feces called Android?

  5. Re:Use correct english please. by Dog-Cow · · Score: 0

    I suggest you have someone rip your head off.

  6. Re:Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    LOL. What an ass!!

  7. Re: Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Apple, apparently, since they keep on copying features straight from Android.

  8. Re:Use correct english please. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I suggest you have someone rip your head off.

    I think your body should be tied up to a big rock or large tree or something. Then a piece of piano wire should be tied around the base of your penis, with the other end tied to the bumper of a truck. Then the truck should accelerate hard. After your little cock makes a sickening POP sound and comes out at the base, sea salt should be vigorously rubbed into the bloody stub that remains.