Install iOS 10 Beta Right Now is Easy, But Should You?

Jun 17, 2016 - 31 Comments

Anyone can install iOS 10 beta but probably should not

With iOS 10 beta in the wild, literally anyone can install the iOS 10 beta on their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch right now with little effort. All you need to do is download the iOS 10 beta IPSW file or get the beta profile to download it through an OTA update, there are no checks or requirements beyond that. Essentially this means if you’re an Apple dev or not, or have a friend in the developer program, or just have some access to the appropriate files, it’s that easy to install the beta right away on any device that supports iOS 10.

But just because anyone can technically install iOS 10 beta right now, that doesn’t mean they should.

We’ll just go ahead and state the obvious; the vast majority of people should not run an iOS 10 beta build. The current iOS 10 beta is intended for developers only, it is an early beta, and it is buggy, some third party apps crash, system behavior can be weird, and battery life is suboptimal. For the average user, running developer beta system software is not appropriate, it’s quite literally intended for developers to build and test their apps with.

For more advanced users who are antsy to test out all of the interesting new features of iOS 10, a much better option is to wait until the iOS 10 Public Beta program opens to the general public in July. The public beta build will still have quirks, but it will be further along in development. Anyone can sign up to be in the Apple Public Beta here.

If you decide to ignore this advice, keep in mind you can downgrade iOS 10 beta back to a stable iOS 9.3.2 release, though you won’t be able to use backups from iOS 10 on an iOS 9 device, meaning you’d likely lose data in the process.

So, just because you can install iOS 10 beta right now as a registered Apple Developer, or with firmware files from a friend, or with a developer beta configuration profile, it doesn’t mean you should. This needs reminding every time a new developer release of system software becomes available, it’s better to have some patience and either wait for the official public beta release, or if you can hold on tight, wait until the fall for the public release of iOS 10.

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Posted by: Paul Horowitz in iPad, iPhone, Tips & Tricks

31 Comments

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  1. Jakie says:

    Hello? How can I downgrade back to 9.3.2 without a computer?

  2. Aditya shetty says:

    Can i??

  3. Aditya shetty says:

    I had installed ios 10 beta do now ill not get the official ios 10 right???

  4. Matt Perkins says:

    iOS 10 beta 1 is about as stable as the official release of an Android OS. Mainly if you choose to use iOS 10 beta 1 expect frequent reboots, freezing and other weird bugs. For instance you can expect at times that when you click on an app that instead of launching the app, iOS 10 will launch the delete app menu. You can expect adding an alarm to launch Apple Music as well. You can also expect that getting out of delete app mode to be near impossible at times. If you can’t deal with these kinda bugs, do not use iOS 10 beta. There are things to like about iOS 10 already. I love the IntelliScreenX feature with the lockscreen. I love seeing the news articles directly from my lock screen. I also love the fact that iOS 10 tells you if an app doesn’t have 64-bit support. And the notifications for iOS 10 are far better than iOS 9.

  5. Aditya shetty says:

    Just give me is that vill happen ???

  6. Aditya shetty says:

    I have install ios 10 beta on my iphone 5 im worried about official ios 10 which vill be release in sep
    I just want to know that can i get that official ios 10 on my iphone vich is being relese in sept can i install or overwrite on my ios 10 beta??

  7. MrFunnyGuy says:

    Awwwwwww did someone get his feelings hurt because the his iPhone 4S that he got for free from AT&T and is now 5 YEARS OLD won’t get the new software? I bet you are the same damn customer who got mad that Windows wouldn’t support his XP computer a year ago. Hahahaha. This isn’t a car, it’s technology…go back to listening to your iPod Shuffle you got on sale.

    • Chris says:

      Brutal! 😂😂

    • no way says:

      No, I am talking about my less than 4 year old iPad mini I paid over half a frigg’n grand for.

    • Wtf says:

      Holy moly dude chill out.

      • no way says:

        Chill out? half a grand and in less than 4 years it won’t be capable of being current with apps anymore. IMO this is inexcusable IMO and someone needs to make Apple more accountable for the products they rapid fire produce.

        If you want to stick your head in the sand while these pricey products end up in landfills clogging the earth fine, but do NOT tell me to chill out.

        • Paul says:

          Personally I wish they would at least offer simple major security updates to older iOS releases and devices, similar to they do with older Mac OS X releases. That way they are at least secure against major flaws even if they aren’t going to get the latest features. There are many millions of older model devices out there still in use, they’re still perfectly capable, so this makes sense.

  8. no way says:

    Wrong, Not anyone, only those with iDevices less than 4 years old. Thank you Apple for taking my money then dropping what I bought from any support. Soon as this is out developers will no longer release updates for older iOS meaning any device not compatible (see link) are f*cked.

    • Bramski says:

      What are you complaining about? Apple will still support you for at least another year, even if ios 11 comes out you will still be able to install all the apps you want, what do you want? That, let’s say, 3D touch isnt supported? Whooo that sucks, really, for that option i should run to the store and get myself a complete new fancy ipad . . . And what if apple announces in a month that you can see siri in clothes from now on on a new apple watch, should everyone run like chickens without brains to the stores to get this new watch for that one missing feature?? The thing is, 4 years is in electronics years is an eternity in human years, you know that, when you buy a new device, that one day it will become obslote? Lets go back in time, it was a lot better :) lets say the time apple went from powerpc to intel, and you bought a brand new powerbook g4, not knowing that only after 1 year, it was already obsolete, consider yourself lucky, that apple gave you at least 4 years, wich isn’t bad ad all ;)

  9. Jared says:

    If I download the beta 1 on my daily phone will I be able to get the iOS ten and further updates?

    • UglyStuff says:

      It’s best to install the profile, as mentioned above by other posters, so that you are warned of any new iOS beta version, regardless of number and rank.

      The sites who offer the firmware for download usually also propose their visitors to download the profile, if only to save bandwidth on their own server.

      That way, you’ll get your upgrades/updates OTA, as soon as they are released.

  10. UglyStuff says:

    Well, to the risk of being the voice of dissent here, I’ve been a beta tester for iOS since, oh, 8.3, I think (not sure here, don’t hold it against me), on my iPhone 6, and I am currently running iOS 10 Beta 1 on it.

    And guess what? No problem AT ALL…

    I thought the device was lagging a little bit at first, but once indexing was done, everything went back to normal, and I have no complaint, NONE AT ALL, about this first version of iOS 10.

    I too went the route of installing a profile I got directly from Apple, instead of downloading a .ipsw file from a website that could be run by aliens, for all I know (and I don’t mean “South-of-the-border” aliens, just aliens-aliens, the like you find on other planets… Yes, I want to believe…).

    Probably the best way to go, provided you have enough free space on your device…

    • MICHAEL says:

      mee too running beta ios 10 1 developers file no problems at all!! i also been running betas on my primary iphone since 8.3 at times buggy but overall apple does a great job keeping stability after all sep only 3 months away the betas are in advanced stages bravo apple!! gogogogo

  11. Sebby says:

    Spoilsport. :)

    I went out and bought an iPod Touch, just to run the beta. Yes I know, worst kind of fanboy … but if you think I’m going to install it on my one and only iPhone you’re insane. :)

    The worst part about that was that I had the exact same model of iPod before, and sold it, because I was sick of beta-testing for Apple, and couldn’t be bothered to (micro)manage multiple iOS devices, so I thought I’d never need it again. I’ve learned my lesson, and will not use the device for any purpose that’s in any sense critical; it’ll be out of service when I’m not testing. Maybe it’ll go on my bedroom shelf.

    It’s an alpha, anyway, not a beta. The beta is what gets released for general availability …

    • I did the same thing. I bought a 32 GB 6th generation iPod touch and I have iOS 10 on it. I downgraded my primary iPhone 6S Plus to iOS 9.3.2.

    • Kevin says:

      Umm, no. Alpha software is only in house or to specific developers, not general developer community. Please don’t confuse what you think you know opposed to what is reality.

      Apple has released the beta, not the alpha version, regardless of what you think or say.

  12. Hamza Sheikh says:

    You need to avoid installing iOS 10 beta. Because, it is release only for developers and full of bugs right now. It will make your iOS experience bitter. I recently downgraded my primary iPhone from iOS 10 to iOS 9.3.2

  13. Alex says:

    Would’nt be worth the hassle. It’s beta and who knows what it might screw up.

    Apple has enough people that it pays to beta test software on machines it owns.

  14. Ted says:

    BTW does anyone else want to call it iOS X? Me too

  15. Ted says:

    No, even if you can, don’t bother running iOS 10 beta, it is not worth it right now.

    iOS 9.3.2 is much more stable.

    You have been warned.

    When the final release is out, I usually wait for the first bug fix to update, so that would be iOS 10.1.

    We go through this every single beta cycle, everyone jumps aboard and then complains about it. Well it’s a beta, what did you expect? Let other people sort out the kinks.

  16. Real Big Beef says:

    Just google for “iOS_10_beta_Configuration_Profile.mobileconfig” and make sure it is verified, it installs fine. Then you will get the Software Update each time a new beta comes out.

    Some of it runs OK, but Facebook crashes a lot.

  17. PJ w3rx says:

    I am running iOS 9 on my primary driver iPhone 6S, and I put iOS 10 beta on my iPhone 5S for fun.

    I got the iOS 10 beta configuration profile from a friend who was at WWDC, he just sent me the mobileconfig file, but they are all over the place.

    You do NOT need to register a UDID to run iOS 10 beta, all you need is the IPSW from Apple Dev download or the Configuration Profile.mobileconfig file and open it on your iPhone or iPad. It’s really that easy, but YES it is buggy.

    The adventurous can download iOS 10 beta right now from here

    https://freeudid.com/iOS_10_beta_Configuration_Profile.mobileconfig

    More iOS 10 beta download links at

    https://www.reddit.com/r/iOSBeta/comments/4nx2i9/ios_10_ota_device_configuration_profile/

    You can also get them for tvOS and watchOS but because watchOS can’t be restored outside of Apple that is a bad idea.

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