Will it be easy to just “update” to the Public Beta off the Dev Beta?

[Goodeye]

Genuinely curious. Am I just able to switch the beta channels over to public and get the Public Beta once it’s out if I’m on the Dev beta?

I assume not because the Public is probably on a lower build but figured I would check. I assume I would just need to restore back to iOS 17.5.1 (or whatever is the newest and most recent at that time) and then once set back up to back into settings and select the public beta.

 

[SKeijmel]

arent they going to be the same from then on when the public beta 1 is released it would be the same version as the devloper beta but only that would be e higher number

 

[Goodeye]

arent they going to be the same from then on when the public beta 1 is released it would be the same version as the devloper beta but only that would be e higher number

I dunno thats why I was asking. I will want to go on Public but if thats coming next week I'll restore back to iOS 17 now rather than later.

 

[Paddle1]

They're usually the exact same build just called a different name. The toggle generally just changes the time the build is pushed to you.

Following this you won't get an update until dev beta 4 / public beta 2 unless they release an additional build which also sometimes happens.

 

[mblm85]

You can move between the developer and Public beta tracks using the dropdown in Software Update. If the one you're selecting has a newer build, that will install. If not, you'll get the next release on that track when it comes out. If you change from Pubic back to developer, the next time a new dev build is released, you'll be prompted to install it. There are no downgrades though.

 

[HouseLannister]

The public beta is usually a day or two after the dev beta. The delay sometimes helps guard against big show-stopping bugs (stopping them before they get too widespread) but nothing different between builds.

 

[one more]

As others have mentioned, the public beta that could come out next week will most likely be the same as already available DB3.

What I don’t understand is why would you want to go back to iOS 17 from iOS 18 DB3 and install the same DB3 all over again? If the PB has a higher build number for some reason, it will also be pushed to developers.

So if you run DB3 already and just want to have a public beta instead, do nothing right now and once the public beta is out switch to its channel via Software Update. You will then only be getting PBs going forward.

 

[Goodeye]

As others have mentioned, the public beta that could come out next week will most likely be the same as already available DB3.

What I don’t understand is why would you want to go back to iOS 17 from iOS 18 DB3 and install the same DB3 all over again? If the PB has a higher build number for some reason, it will also be pushed to developers.

So if you run DB3 already and just want to have a public beta instead, do nothing right now and once the public beta is out switch to its channel via Software Update. You will then only be getting PBs going forward.

Only reason I thought of was if the PB is on a lower build and if I wanted to go to that for stability, that might be my only choice.

That was the only reason why I asked about that.

Same would have to happen if I wanted to get off the beta's entirely. I would have to download the most recent version of iOS 17 for my phone and put it in DFU and restore it using that version.

 

[gwhizkids]

Only reason I thought of was if the PB is on a lower build and if I wanted to go to that for stability, that might be my only choice.

That was the only reason why I asked about that.

Same would have to happen if I wanted to get off the beta's entirely. I would have to download the most recent version of iOS 17 for my phone and put it in DFU and restore it using that version.

With very rare exceptions, the public beta is nothing more than a week-old, 2-day old, or several hour old (depending on when it is released vis a vis the developer beta) version of the developer beta. It is no more or less stable than the developer beta because 99 times out of a hundred, its exactly the same software. Same code, same build number, everything.

To get off the beta program entirely, you simply toggle the beta switch in Software Updates to “off”. Then, you can simply ride out that beta. In that case, you will only be prompted to upgrade to a new software version when the next publicly released software is available.

Or, if you want to get off the beta now, you can follow the instructions to restore to the current public release that you can find in the “spoilers” at the bottom of the first post of each of these beta threads. Those instructions roughly track what you laid out at the bottom of the post of yours I am quoting. If you go that route, hopefully you have archived an encrypted backup of your iOS 17 set up to restore from. Otherwise, you are going to potentially lose a significant amount of data.

 

[one more]

As mentioned in @gwhizkids post #9, the public beta is almost always the same as the developers beta released before it, rather than a more polished or “safer” variant for the general public.

So, assuming you already run DB3, once the PB1 is out, your options are:

1) PB1 has the same build as DB3 - nothing to do.

2) PB1 has a different build to DB3 - switch to Public Beta profile in Settings > Software Update and install it;

3) If things go wild at some point, restore back to iOS 17. To do this you will need to have an archived iOS 17 backup made before installing iOS 18. If you don’t have it or it is too old, you might find it simpler to bear with some beta bugs and wait for them to be resolved with following betas.

Finally, if being on a Public Beta channel feels better for you, you can switch to it and stay on it once the PB1 is out (see option 2 above).

 

[new-user1583]

Am pretty new to beta releases - I have beta 3 re release but now I just saw that the public beta released but I cannot see the toggle to switch between public beta and developer beta. Is this working as intended?

 

[HouseLannister]

It’s right in software update. Once toggled, it won’t find anything to install since you are on the newest build, but it will make sure you don’t get DB4.

Again, no real difference in builds. It’s just a timing thing. If you want your build delivered a day late just to make sure there is nothing that is going to break, go with the PB.

 

[new-user1583]

Answering to myself: I had to enable my public beta profile through Apple’s website, that’s why the option for the public beta did not show up. I believe I had done this in the past and given that I was already on the developer beta I found this a bit weird. Nonetheless hope this is useful in case someone else faces the same issue