Yes You Can Install iOS 12 Beta Right Now, But Don’t
The anticipation for iOS 12 is high for many iPhone and iPad owners, and with iOS 12 developer beta out in the wild, many people may be tempted to install iOS 12 beta onto their devices right now.
Installing the iOS 12 developer beta is possible, but ultimately you shouldn’t. If you’re that interested in running beta system software, you should at least wait a while.
Installing iOS 12 Beta Right Now is Possible but…
It turns out that anyone can install iOS 12 beta right now through one of two means; signing up for an Apple Developer account, or by obtaining the iOS 12 developer beta profile. There’s no need to register a device UDID or anything else, all is needed is the beta profile and an iOS 12 supported device.
The first method requiring an Apple Developer account is just a matter of signing up and paying for the membership here at developer.apple.com. But the Developer program is intended for developers, not casual users, so this is really not a good idea unless you’re actually a developer of some sort.
The second method utilizes the iOS 12 developer beta configuration profile, which is a small file .mobileconfig file that installs onto an iPhone or iPad and then allows that device to access the iOS 12 beta system software through Software Update. The “iOS_12_Beta_Profile.mobileconfig” files can be found to download in a variety of places on the web, or perhaps from a colleague or friend with a developer account. While the beta profile can technically be installed onto any device, it is still not a good idea to do so for various reasons. One, it’s possible the beta profile .mobileconfig file is from a sketchy source and not actually legitimate or from Apple, in which case it’d be a very bad idea to install a random profile onto any iPhone or iPad. And second, even if the beta profile is legitimate and from Apple, the iOS 12 developer beta software is buggy and it will not be a good experience for most users. It’s even possible that permanent data loss could occur if the device runs into an issue with the iOS 12 developer beta system software builds. Just don’t take the risk, it’s not worth it.
Don’t Install the iOS 12 Developer Beta, Wait Instead
Early developer beta software is notoriously unreliable and is about as buggy as beta system software releases get. Thus, even if you get ahold of the iOS 12 beta profile yourself from the developer center or through a friend or elsewhere, you should fight the urge to install the early beta versions and just wait.
But I Want to Install and Beta Test iOS 12! What Should I Do?
If you really do want to beta test iOS 12, then you should wait for the iOS 12 public beta, which will start soon. The public beta builds of iOS 12 will be a bit further refined and should perform notably better than the early developer beta releases. Apple specifically created the public beta testing program to fit this desire of many users who like to explore and experiment with future system software.
You can sign up for the iOS 12 public beta program here at beta.apple.com.
It’s worth remembering that even though the public beta is open to anyone with an iOS 12 compatible iPhone or iPad, it is still best reserved for more advanced users who have a spare iPhone or iPad to explore the beta operating system on. You’ll want to go through the full backup process of course as well, so that you can restore the device in case something goes wrong.
If you find yourself in a bind and are currently running iOS 12 beta but regret it, don’t forget you can always downgrade iOS 12 beta back to revert back to a stable build of iOS 11.x if you need to, though you’ll want to be sure you have sufficient backups handy so that you can avoid total data loss.
Ultimately, the vast majority of iPhone and iPad users should never install beta system software at all – be it a developer beta or public beta – and instead most people are better off only installing and running the final versions of iOS when they are made available to the general public. For iOS 12, the final version will be available sometime this fall. Just have a little patience.
I had too many bugs with the 12 beta, so restored to 11.4. However, my backup was 11.4.1 beta, so it can’t be used. Now when I go to the beta site to download the 11 beta profile, the only options 12. Anyone know how to resolve?
I always test the Beta and have yet to have any major issues.
What are on about iOS 12 beta is ok . My iPhone with 12 beta did two restarts and the key board sorted it self out and “books”, was not working correctly . Easy fixed just delete it and download “books”, again because it was a new format to iBooks . All my doors and PDFs where in the cloud so new fresh access to all books .
So yes ios12 beta is well worth haveing . Faster and better …
I have it installed on my iPhone X and it has worked fine. Only thing I’ve noticed is that apps will crash if they need to connect to the internet and there’s no internet connection. Also, my keyboards broke. GG. Otherwise very nice. Notifications are very good.
Yes, beta software is normally buggy and unstable, and yes, it is not for everyone, but ios 12 is particularly really stable, Mojave is also very stable for that matter
Ricardo, yes, Skype doesn’t work, and it probably won’t work until the final release of ios 12, it’s normal for some apps not to work in beta software, that’s part of the risk of installing it, if you really need Skype, then downgrade to ios 11
Hello, I installed IOS 12 beta 1 in my iPhone X and suddlenly the Skype app stopped working. Do you think it is related ? Thanks
I really doubt it Ricardo. I would contact Apple & tell them you are running High Sierra. If you’re out of warranty, pay the fees to resolve it. Or just text me for personal help.
Hello, I installed IOS 12 beta 1 in my iPhone X and suddlenly the Skype app stopped working. Do you think it is related to the beta? Thanks
Of course it is related, you installed developer beta system software which is developer beta system software. The reason it’s developer beta system software is for developers to update their apps to work with the beta system software before the beta is finalized, so that the currently broken apps work for users.
Good grief people, does anyone understand why it’s called a beta? Or does anyone read the articles?
I’ve installed pretty much every iOS beta since iOS 8 and usually your advice in this story is true. However, this ios12 beta is extremely stable and I forget sometimes that it is even beta. I think apple’s focus on making iOS 12 less buggy is showing through in the beta.
i have a 7+ and went thru hell with beta 11. whatever beta. ios12 is on the phone now and the only thing annoying about it is screen time. its not running down the battery, does more than ios11. the only issue is i cant upgrade my AWseries2. the AWapp claims it cant see the watch. everything otherwise works as it should on the AW. apple solution was to roll iOS back to 11. nah i like ios12 beta already and i’m not going to the roll back process just for a point point u/g for the AW rich works well with 4.3.1.
i have a 7+ and went thru hell with beta 11. whatever beta. ios12 is on the phone now and the only thing annoying about it is screen time. its not running down the battery, does more than ios11. the only issue is i cant upgrade my AWseries2. the AWapp claims it cant see the watch. everything otherwise works as it should on the AW. apple solution was to roll iOS back to 11. nah i like ios12 beta already and i’m not going to the roll back process just for a point point u/g for the AW which work well with 4.3.1.
It has been running better than the “stable” iOS11 for me…..it has given my son’s mini 2 a new lease on life.
Man shut up u do not know anything lol. iOS 12 beta is extremely stable
Beta software is inherently not stable, that is why it is called a beta. You know it’s not stable because it’s called “beta” software. This is just part of the software lifecycle, it is normal. The stability improves with each beta build until the final version is released.
12 beta has been a nightmare. My operating system looks like a ghost working my phone. it has deleted a lot of photos , numbers and applications. it freezes and it runs other applications when youre trying to operate something else. It is now even a huge hassle to uninstall it, they have taken away the features..This has been by far the worst beta ever!
I’ve been a developer for several years and have taken advantage of early looks as the MacOS since El Capitan. As a rule, I didn’t jump right on it, that is until Mojave. I just wanted the features that Mojave offers. I’ll be less than honest if I didn’t say I’ve been bit my a bug or two, but nobody does a better job of beta support than Apple.
I would not install any beta operating system, developer beta or public beta. The “final” versions are often so buggy they are basically an extended public beta testing anyway, so might as well wait for the first few bug fix updates. iOS 12.1, iOS 12.2.1, etc.
That’s what I do anyway.
If it’s in beta, it is meant for developers, just like the latest Mac OS. Not worth risking your machine for some flaky code that needs to be tightened up.