Apple’s next mobile operating system, iOS 16, is still in development, but you can already download an early version of the software in its Developer Beta. Downloading the beta version will give you an early look at the features Apple is showing off at WWDC 2022. But since iOS 16 is still in an early state, downloading the Developer Beta isn’t worth it for most people.
But if you’re still interested, we’d like to outline three important reasons why you should probably wait before downloading the iOS 16 developer beta.
iOS 16 developer beta costs money
If you want to legally install iOS 16 on your iPhone, you must first become a member of the Apple Developer Program, which costs $99 per year for individual developers. As an Apple Developer Program member, you get early access to beta software downloads and apps, which helps developers better build their apps.
But for everyone else, paying close to $100 a year for software that hasn’t been fully developed or finished — that’s probably a denial. Instead of paying for the Apple Developer Program, you can wait until the July public beta release of iOS 16, which will allow you to test new features and settings in front of the public.
The beta version of iOS 16 may also limit some of your phone’s features
Now that you have it on your main iPhone, you use it every day to send text messages, check email and browse the Internet. This didn’t seem like an issue at first, but as is the case with every developer beta, these early iterations of iOS 16 have bugs that can make the software difficult to use. Even if the first developer beta doesn’t have many bugs, the next version can.
For example, I’m running the first iOS 16 developer beta on the iPhone 11 Pro and I’ve run into issues with several features and settings:
1. Not every photo or video I try to save from the internet actually saves to my camera roll. I have to redo the save process multiple times, or force close the app before it actually saves on my device.
2. There are also random forced shutdowns. When I open some apps, they force close occasionally, most likely due to some incompatibility with iOS 16.
3. I also have issues reopening closed tabs in Safari. Some tabs keep reappearing no matter how often I close them.
4. AirDrop doesn’t work half the time.
This is not to criticize the software itself, as all developer betas will have this problem, which is normal. This is just to paint a better picture of what you can expect from an early pre-release. Unless you’re prepared to deal with such issues, you shouldn’t install iOS 16 on your iPhone, especially if it’s your everyday device.
You may not be able to go back to iOS 15 without erasing personal data
Let’s say you’ve upgraded to the iOS 16 developer beta and suddenly you’re having issues. You’re not satisfied with an earlier version of Apple’s software, so you want to go back to iOS 15. Unless you have backed up from the iOS 15 archive, the only way to downgrade is to restore your iPhone to a brand new device. While this will install Apple’s latest mobile update, it may also permanently delete important data and settings from your phone.
Before downloading and installing iOS 16, make sure to create a backup while running iOS 15. You can do this via iCloud on your device, but Apple only keeps one backup at a time, so iOS 15 backups aren’t guaranteed to be available if there’s a future update, especially since most iCloud backups are done automatically while you sleep.
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