Apple hosts WWDC (World Wide Developer Conference) every year to showcase the upcoming major updates to all its platforms. And this year, Apple introduced the iOS 16 and tons of new things in the operating system with it.
Though the new OS for the iPhone has been announced and showcased, you can’t just head to the ‘Software Update’ section on your iPhone and download it right now. As much as we hate to break it to you, it can be several months before you can update the iPhone to iOS 16 that way.
However, not all is lost. If you cannot contain yourself from trying the OS, you can simply get a ‘Developer Beta’ profile and start using iOS 16 from day one. At the same time, do keep in mind, that since this version of the OS is only meant to be used by developers, as the name suggests, it has some rough edges and may behave unexpectedly at times.
Though before you head on to download the beta profile, let’s first understand what exactly it is and how you can get your hands on one.
What Exactly is a Developer Beta? How is it Different from a Public Beta?
A Developer Beta operating system is a prerelease version of the iOS mainly aimed at developers and highly technical users to get their apps ready and developed according to the changes that have been made to the operating system.
This allows the developers to make sure their apps are compatible with the upcoming operating system and won’t crash or behave unexpectedly once the software update has been released publicly and pushed to devices.
Since this is a very early release of the software, there might be many bugs and rough edges. There is also a chance that some of the newly introduced features may not work completely in this release of the software and might only become functional in the subsequent updates.
To add to that, Developer Beta is essentially an unfinished piece of software and hence can be very unstable. Though the chances are very rare, there is a possibility that it can brick your iPhone.
Now, the Public Betas unlike Developer Betas are much more stable and are aimed toward users who wish to use the upcoming software a bit early than a regular joey but also like to practice precaution as all the rough edges and critical bugs are typically sorted out in Public Beta releases.
However, do note that Developer Betas are released at the time of the new iOS announcement whereas a Public Beta takes several weeks to arrive.
Moreover, if you wish to use a Developer Beta iOS, you would need an Apple Developer account to download one. Or, you can also ask a buddy of yours who has a developer account to download one and share it with you.
Now that you are a bit acquainted with the Developer Beta and Public Beta versions for iOS, let’s move on and learn how to get one for your iPhone.
Note: It is highly recommended, and we cannot stress it enough, that you take a backup of your device before proceeding and installing the Beta profile. If anything goes wrong, you will be able to revert to the normal state of your device.
Download and Install iOS 16 Developer Beta Profile
Downloading a Developer Beta profile is a very straightforward process. You only need to download the profile by signing into your Apple Developer account and then proceed to install it on your desired iPhone which will allow you to receive the beta builds.
On your iPhone, launch the Safari app and open the developer.apple.com/download URL in a new tab. When asked to sign in to your Apple Developer account, enter the credentials of your Apple account and click on the ‘Arrow’ icon or hit Enter on your keyboard to Sign in.
Note: If you are not enrolled in the Apple Developer Program, you shall see an ‘Enroll’ button present in the top right section of the website. Click on it to proceed with the payment of $100 that will be charged annually to maintain the developer status of your account.
After signing in with your developer account, scroll down until you see the iOS beta section, and click on the ‘Download’ button next to it to download the configuration profile on your iPhone.
You will receive a prompt to allow the website to download a configuration profile on your device; tap on the ‘Allow’ button to proceed.
Once the profile has been downloaded, the system will acknowledge the same. Tap on the ‘Close’ button to exit the prompt.
Then, head to the Settings app on your iPhone either from the home screen or the app library.
After that, tap on the ‘Profile Downloaded’ tile below the ‘Apple ID’ on the Settings page to proceed. This will bring up an overlay window to your screen.
Next, from the overlay screen, tap on the ‘Install’ button from the top right corner of the screen.
After that, read the EULA (End User License Agreement) terms and tap on the ‘Install’ button present in the top right corner of the overlay interface. This will bring a pop-up menu from the bottom of the screen.
From the pop-up menu, click on the ‘Install’ button again to finally initiate the installation of the Beta profile on your device.
Once the profile is successfully installed, you will receive an alert on your screen to restart your iPhone to let the changes take effect and start receiving the beta builds accordingly. Tap the ‘Restart’ button to continue. This will restart your device immediately.
Once the iPhone restarts, the Beta profile will be successfully installed on your device and it will be ready to receive the beta builds. You only need to perform this action once. Once you have installed the beta profile on your device, you will be able to download the incremental updates of the beta builds just like regular software updates from the Settings app.
Installing iOS 16 Developer Beta on your iPhone
Once you have installed the iOS 16 Developer Beta profile as showcased above, you can install the Beta build once it is available to download.
Installing the iOS 16 Developer beta is as simple as downloading any other software update to your iPhone. First, head to the Settings app either from the home screen or the app library of your iPhone.
After that, locate and tap on the ‘General’ tab from the list to proceed.
On the next screen, locate and tap on the ‘Software Update’ option to continue.
Then, you shall be able to see the beta build available to download for your device. Tap on the ‘Download and Install’ button present at the bottom section of the page. Also, make sure your device has either more than fifty percent of power or is plugged in to ensure proper installation.
Your iPhone may reboot several times during the installation procedure; it is completely normal behavior. Once the iPhone is turned on, you will be rocking the latest iOS beta build.
There you go folks, you can now explore all the new features and functionalities firsthand and be among one of the early testers of the iOS 16!
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