How to download and install iOS 12 beta

Here's how to get your hands on iOS 12 beta ahead of the official launch this fall.

There are two ways for you to get your hands on the iOS 12 beta.

TechRepublic: With iOS 12, Siri finally becomes the AI-powered business assistant we needed

But before you go any further, take note of the following:

• Playing with pre-release software is inviting troubles into your life, and if you don't want bugs getting in the way of your workflow, steer clear of iOS 12 beta (at least at this early stage in the game when things can be particularly unstable)
• I highly recommend that you do a full local encrypted backup of your iPhone or iPad using iTunes (if you don't, and things go wrong, you could end up rolling back to a completely fresh installation)

Create a secure, encrypted backup of your iPhone or iPad

With that out of the way, you now have two options:

The first is to enroll in the Apple Developer Program, which costs $99, and while it's aimed at developers, it will also give you early access to beta code for iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS.

The second way is to sign up to Apple's public beta program. You need to go to the following web page using Safari on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch device: https://beta.apple.com/sp/betaprogram/. After you've signed up you will be offered a profile to download and install on your iOS device. After it's been downloaded, you restart your device and then head over to Settings > General > Software Update to download the update.

Note: The iOS 12 beta is not yet available via the public beta program (according to Apple it will drop later this month), only via the paid Apple Developer Program.

If things get too bad, you can always uninstall the beta version of iOS and go back to the release version. Apple has documentation on how to do this here.

iOS 12 beta is supported on the following devices:

• iPad Air
• iPad Air 2
• iPad Pro
• iPad mini 2
• iPad mini 3
• iPad mini 4
• iPod touch 6th
• iPhone 5s
• iPhone SE
• iPhone 6/6 Plus
• iPhone 6s/6s Plus
• iPhone 7/7 Plus
• iPhone 8/8 Plus
• iPhone X

This means that all devices that run iOS 11 can run the iOS 12 beta. This means that the oldest Apple devices that can support iOS 12 will be the iPhone 5s and iPad Air.

Oh, and good luck! In my experience, you'll need it!

Seven things Apple needs to fix in iOS 12 (but probably won't)

See also:

• iPhone battery life bad after installing iOS 11.4? Here's what you can do
• iOS 11.4 tips, tricks, and secrets everyone should know
• How to completely erase any device
• The coolest USB flash drive you can buy: Apricorn Aegis Secure Key 3z
• iOS 11.4 looks set to be Apple's most boring iOS release to date
• Is this the world's best power bank? The Omnicharge Omni 20 USB-C
• iOS tips: What to do when you run out of storage on your iPhone or iPad