Apple’s iOS 18.0 beta is well into testing, with at least six weeks to go before its final launch. So why has it launched all of a sudden and left everyone, users and developers alike, confused?
iOS 18.1 Beta 2 Released – What’s New? (Apple Intelligence)
There are two main purposes of a beta version of an operating system. One is to fix everything in the beta version before it is pushed out to millions of users. The other is to let developers test whether their own apps work well on the new operating system and to let them incorporate cool new features into those apps. But it seems like Apple is so far behind with its AI features that it is pushing them forward at the expense of users and developers.
“Giving developers two beta versions to test is a disaster for a lot of people,” Craig Hockenberry, a veteran Apple developer and currently a director at Iconfactory, said on Mastodon. “Developers install 18.1 because it’s the new hotness. And then September comes and everyone realizes they didn’t test their apps on the 18.0 release that’s being shipped to customers.”
During this summer’s WWDC keynote, Apple teased several upcoming AI features coming to iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. The company also said that most of these features would not arrive until after iOS 18 is released, which typically coincides with the arrival of new iPhones in stores in mid- to late September.
