iOS 12 Beta 8 Released to Download for Beta Testers

Apple has released iOS 12 developer beta 8 for users enrolled in the iOS beta testing program. iOS 12 beta 8 arrives just a few days after iOS 12 beta 7, which was quickly pulled down due to performance issues. Therefore, any users actively running the prior iOS 12 beta should probably install iOS 12 beta 8.

iOS 12 developer beta 8 has a build number of 16A5357b. Apple typically releases a developer beta first, and then issues the same build as a public beta soon after, though the public beta version is usually versioned as a release number behind.

Users can download the new iOS 12 beta 8 release from the Software Update mechanism in the Settings app on an iPhone or iPad running a prior iOS 12 beta release.

Anyone can technically install the developer beta builds if they come across a developer beta profile, but a better option is to install and run iOS 12 public beta if you’re curious about running beta system software and testing the new features.

MacOS Mojave beta 7 and the accompanying public beta are available as well, which is also available to install and run through the macOS Mojave public beta program.

Beta software is notoriously unreliable and therefore should only be installed by advanced users who makes sufficient backups of their devices, and who have secondary hardware to beta test the system software on.

iOS 12 aims to focus on performance improvements for iPhone and iPad, but also includes a variety of new interesting features like new Animoji icons, a new Memoji feature that allows for cartoon avatar creation of yourself, a new Screen Time feature which lets you see how often you use apps and your device and also set time limits for app usage, along with other minor changes to the iOS operating system.

Apple has said the final versions of iOS 12 and macOS Mojave will be released to the general public this fall.