Is running the betas worth it?

[flyinion]

Subject pretty much says it all. I used to root/ROM all the time on Android but haven't touched any of that since coming to Apple 2 1/2 years ago. Seems like running betas might satisfy some of that "tweaking" itch a bit. Looks like it's pretty easy to upgrade from beta to release once they come out?

 

[anon(9602380)]

Betas are fine to run if you can handle any bugs that come with them. I've run betas that are not to bad but I've also run betas full of bugs.

 

[Truman82]

As an old android tweaker, the betas on iOS felt like coming home. Not that you can tweak IOS in any way but it is cool to get new features (and bugs) among the first people.

 

[Rob Phillips]

I generally run iOS betas because it’s fun to test out new features before the masses get a hold of them. Being an iPhone X and iPad Pro owner it’s been particularly fun because many of the enhancements that have come in the iOS 11 betas have been for the benefit of iPhone X and iPad users.
The usual word of caution: Betas almost always come with bugs so it isn’t recommended that they be installed on daily drivers. That being said I’m currently running iOS 11 betas on both of my devices and its running great. The first few early iOS 11 betas were so unbearable I ended up leaving the beta for a while.

 

[calebt]

To me it is worth it, I like being able to use the new features right away when added. Bugs are fixed, but also some new ones may be added sort of like playing with Android I guess.

 

[Blackcash]

I was using betas on my daily driver in the past. I thought it was great that I could get the new features and test them out.
After using them for a while, all the bugs and the app incompatibility made me jump ship.
I'm willing now to just wait for the GM to come out. I still like to read what everyone else's opinion is on the betas.

 

[Aztek13]

I like to run the public betas, especially for major new updates. That way the developers can iron out the big bugs first and then I can enjoy the new stuff without (most of the time) any problems.

 

[BreakingKayfabe]

I don't recommend it anymore.

 

[Lee_Bo]

If you like working with bugs and potential "what the heck" moments, then betas are nice to play with.

If you only have one device that you use as your daily driver and you reply on it and need it to be working correctly at all times, then nope.

 

[Tartarus]

I love betas. Have been running solely on betas for the last 2 years. Apart from some minor inconveniences and the bigger inconveniences at the first 2 betas on the major updates, there is nothing going wrong for me.

 

[Just_Me_D]

Subject pretty much says it all. I used to root/ROM all the time on Android but haven't touched any of that since coming to Apple 2 1/2 years ago. Seems like running betas might satisfy some of that "tweaking" itch a bit. Looks like it's pretty easy to upgrade from beta to release once they come out?

I basically run a beta version of iOS on my primary device year round. For me, the experience has been overwhelmingly positive, however, that has not been the case for a lot of people. Having said that, I think the betas are worth it, but that’s Just Me, D. Your mileage may vary.

 

[calebt]

I run with betas on my primary phone, never have any problems just the normal bugs that are listed and they usually don't effect me anyways. I use mostly stock apps and the others I do use the developers are quick to update so the bugs are squashed fairly quick.

 

[flyinion]

Hmmm, now I'm undecided. My thought was to run the minor betas like n.1.x or n.2.x for example where "n" is the current major OS version. I probably wouldn't be crazy enough to say run the iOS 12 beta later in the year but 12.x sure or in the case of current stuff 11.3 or 11.3.x. I guess worst case I revert to my backup. I have looked up how to put the beta on and revert and it does look pretty easy as long as the phone doesn't actually brick for some reason.

 

[metllicamilitia]

I’ve been running betas since iOS 7, I think iOS 6 was the last version I had that wasn’t beta. Minus some hiccups with early iOS 7 and iOS 11 builds, I’ve seen more bugs lately on the minor builds than the major ones. More so with iOS 11. So I’m happy iOS 12 is supposed to iron out the kinks and I’ll gladly run those betas. It’s not for everyone as there can be some irritating bugs. Even some bugs that can essentially brick your phone, but if you can live with bugs I see no reason not to run betas.

 

[doogald]

I usually do not run betas, except for the last couple of weeks of the major iOS update each fall, but I decided to install the 11.3 beta a couple of days ago because I was planning to upgrade to an iPhone X today and I wanted to install from scratch, but with all of my messages synced from iCloud. Beta 5 has been fine for the last couple of days.

As soon as 11.3 comes out, though, I plan to delete the beta profile and stick with stock iOS, at least until the last few weeks of the iOS 12 beta this fall (maybe).

 

[flyinion]

Hmmm well sounds like I have a weekend project ahead of me then. Think I'm going to go ahead and do it. Likely just on my phone not the iPad as well, just in case lol. Or maybe I should do it on the tablet instead since I have two factor authentication for various games and services like Steam, Google, WoW, etc. on my phone.

 

[krishnansasikumar]

Well.. to begin with, it's not like installing custom ROMs on Android. This is pretty simple and straightforward.

Since my last foray into Custom ROMs on my Nexus 6 and OnePlus3T, I kind of missed the constant tweaking involved with ROMs and kernels etc...so thought I'll install Beta profile on my 8 plus. But it's kind of the same as a regular update. Bugs just like in the full releases, works just as well and there is still no tweaking the OS or anything associated with it.

Yeah..you get the new features before the public release, it's more for the X and iPad pro.

This is as far as it'll go on an apple system though.. So enjoy it.

The 8 plus is my daily driver along with my Note 8.. so no risk there.

 

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Betas are fine to run on iOS. Some will tell you that they are “flawless,” or have no bugs, but that is completely false - so don’t go into it with that expectation. You may not experience all/any of the bugs if you don’t use the functionality to replicate them, but they will be there. Usually the core functionalities are tested internally before reaching beta stages, so I’ve never experienced any major issues. Just small annoyances here and there.

 

[Truman82]

One thing to keep in mind is that beta profile drains your battery faster as there is constant data collection happening behind the scenes.

 

[Rob Phillips]

One thing to keep in mind is that beta profile drains your battery faster as there is constant data collection happening behind the scenes.

Do you have a resource you can point to that shows this? I’ve always been under the impression that a beta profile simply allows the user to detect and install beta versions of iOS. Furthermore, beta versions of iOS don’t send any more information to Apple than GM builds unless there’s a crash and the user has enabled crash reporting.