How to Install iOS 14 Developer Beta on iPhone
Apple showcased the redesigned iOS 14 to the world during their first all-online WWDC event and it’s already available for download as a beta for developers. If you’re an Apple developer yourself, you might want to stay up to date on Apple’s latest and greatest software and install iOS 14 dev beta onto your iPhone or iPod touch.
It’s worth noting that you’ll need to be part of the Apple Developer Program that costs $99 annually for a membership. However, if you’re already capable of publishing apps in the App Store, it means that you’re part of the program and you’re good to go. If not, you can enroll within a few minutes, as long as you’re ready with the payment. And if you aren’t interested in paying anything, don’t worry because in the coming weeks the iOS 14 public beta will begin too.
If you’re interested in trying out the developer beta, read on as we’ll be guiding you through the necessary steps to access and install iOS 14 Developer Beta on your iPhone.
Before You Update
First of all, to install this beta version of iOS 14, you’ll need a paid Apple developer account. Remember you can enroll easily if that interests you.
Before you go ahead and try to update your iOS device to the newest firmware, you also need to make a backup of all the data stored on your device. This is to make sure you don’t lose them in case the software update fails. There are two ways to back up an iOS device. If you pay for an iCloud subscription, it’s a lot more convenient to back up your iPhone or iPad to iCloud. However, if you don’t want to spend money on iCloud, you can create a backup of your device on your computer. On Windows PCs, you can use iTunes to back up your iPhone and iPad. Or, if you use a Mac running macOS Catalina or later, you can use Finder to back up all your data.
How to Install iOS 14 Developer Beta on iPhone
Be mindful that this firmware is far from a stable release and not suitable for everyday use. We don’t recommend you to install this beta on your primary device because more often than not, these versions tend to have device breaking bugs that may cause the system and installed apps to not function properly. We will not be responsible for any issues that you may come across during this update, so as always proceed at your own risk.
- Open “Safari” on your iPhone and head over to developer.apple.com/download and sign in with your Apple developer account. Here, you’ll have the option to install the iOS 14 beta configuration profile on to your device. Tap on “Install Profile” to proceed further.
- Next, head over to “Settings” on your iPhone and tap on the new “Profile Downloaded” option that shows up right below your Apple ID name.
- Tap on “Install” at the top-right corner of the screen to begin installing the beta profile.
- You will be asked to enter your device passcode in this step. Tap on “Install” again to give consent.
- Once the installation is complete, tap on “Done” to exit the menu.
- Now, go to Settings -> General -> Software Update and you’ll see iOS 14 Beta available for download. If you don’t, restart your iPhone and check again.
- Choose to “Download and Install” to begin the installation process of iOS 14 on the iPhone or iPod touch
- When installation is complete, the iPhone or iPod touch will reboot and be running iOS 14 beta
That’s pretty much all there is to it. You’ve successfully managed to access and install iOS 14 developer beta on your iPhone.
Although we were focusing solely on the iPhone in this article, you can follow these steps to install iPadOS 14 developer beta on your iPad too. The process is quite similar but of course the devices are different and so are the naming conventions of the two operating systems.
If you aren’t part of the Apple Developer Program, but you still want to experiment with your device and try out the latest features, there are two options; waiting for the public beta (recommended), or technically speaking you can install the beta configuration profile from a third-party source and then gain access to the iOS 14 Developer Beta from Apple in an unofficial manner (not recommended). If you happen to be brave enough to use the dev profile approach, perhaps gaining access to the developer profile from a friend or even a source online, you’ll be eligible for all future developer beta versions of iOS 14 until you manually remove the profile from your device, or downgrade iOS 14 beta back to iOS 13.
As mentioned earlier, this is an early beta version of iOS 14, so if you’re having second thoughts about installing this beta firmware, we suggest you to at least wait until the release of iOS 14 public beta. Normally, Apple starts rolling out public beta a few weeks after the release of developer beta, and Apple has said the public beta for iOS 14 will begin in July.
Are you facing any major issues after the iOS 14 update? Or perhaps you’re not enjoying iOS 14 as you thought you would? If so, you still have the option to downgrade from iOS 14 using the latest stable IPSW firmware file and then restoring from a previous iCloud or local backup to get back all your data.
We hope you were able to update your iPhone to iOS 14 developer beta without any issues. What are your first impressions on Apple’s latest software for iPhones? Did you come across anything noteworthy? Do share your valuable thoughts and experience in the comments section down below.