If you're one of the brave souls who is testing iOS 11 Public Beta 2 and you haven't had your morning coffee yet, now is an excellent time to get another cup. Before you do, however, make sure you go to the Settings app on your phone and check for a Software Update. That's right, Betanauts! iOS 11 Public Beta 3 is ready for download!
The over-the-air update has all the latest fixes from Apple and is the easiest way to get the latest beta build. If you haven't taken the plunge yet and want to start testing the iOS 11 Public Beta, you can check my guide. Everyone else, here's what you need to know.
What Do I Need?
To take advantage of the over-the-air update to iOS 11 Public Beta 3, you'll have to have an iPhone or iPad that's currently running the iOS 11 Beta. Open the Settings app and select Software Update. If you don't have an update waiting for you, click Check for Update. Once you press Download & Install it will take a few minutes to download and about twenty minutes to install the update. Make sure your phone is fully charged and backed up! Your phone dying in the middle of an OS update is a Very Bad Thing. Not having a backup to restore from is even worse.
What's New?
Bug fixes! Above and beyond everything else, iOS 11 Public Beta 3 brings with it a slew of fixes to bugs that Apple has known about and that testers have reported with the Feedback app (you have been using the Feedback app, right?). Compatibility with third party apps and devices will be better as well (my Fenix 5 gets notifications again, happy day!). This doesn't mean that the beta is bug-free - there are still plenty of Known Issues that need to be worked out (so you're not off the hook on reporting bugs yet!).
One of the biggest changes in the beta is the new behavior in the Notification Center that will be pretty familiar to anyone who uses Android. You can now swipe left on an individual notification to view or clear it, or right to open the app. It's one of the things I've always appreciated being able to do in Android and I'm glad to see Apple implementing a version of the behavior here.
Additionally, WiFi behavior has changed a bit. This version of iOS 11 will no longer auto-join weak WiFi networks and will inform you that Auto-Join has been disabled for that network in the Choose a Network list (check out Amit Chowdhry's piece for more details). And speaking of WiFi, the home screen WiFi strength indicator icon now has fatter bars. You're welcome?
A few new icons have snuck into this build. Reminders now have dots on the right side instead of the left (which is odd, because the check off dots is still in the same place). The Notes icon is a little more zoomed in than before. And the Contacts app now has two people on the icon instead of one silhouette. They're subtle differences (well, except for Contacts) that you likely wouldn't notice unless you saw the new and old icons side-by-side.
If you use the Control Center toggle for Low Power Mode (which, honestly, I'd forgotten that was an option, time to go take a closer look at the Settings app!), you now get a nice new animation as you toggle it on.
What's Next?
Apple doesn't release iOS 11 until September and they've already come a long way since the first beta was initially released. August will be a busy month as Apple's developers scramble to identify and squash bugs ahead of the final gold build so you can expect to see at least one or two more public betas before we get the Gold version ahead of the final release. Keep reporting bugs and do dig around in all the corners of your phone, even apps that you haven't touched in a while, you'll be surprised at what new features and tweaked offerings you'll find.
