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

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..

Comments

Re: You pay to be beta testers, now.

[cant_get_a_good_nick]

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.

Re:You pay to be beta testers, now.

[TheFakeTimCook]

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..

Re: You pay to be beta testers, now.

[UnknowingFool]

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.

Beta filesystem

[Espectr0]

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

Re:Beta filesystem

[Rei_is_a_dumbass]

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.

Re:Beta filesystem

[Espectr0]

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.

Re: Beta filesystem

[Espectr0]

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

Re: Beta filesystem

[Dog-Cow]

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.

Re:Beta filesystem

[TheRaven64]

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.

Re: Beta filesystem

[Mattskimo]

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/

Re: You pay to be beta testers, now.

[Dog-Cow]

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?

Re:Who cares?

[Dog-Cow]

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

Re:You pay to be beta testers, now.

[antdude]

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. :(

Re: You pay to be beta testers, now.

[cant_get_a_good_nick]

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.

Re: You pay to be beta testers, now.

[Dixie_Flatline]

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.)