Apple is reportedly planning to publicly
test future iOS builds with a limited
number of participants, similar to what
Cupertino did with OS X last year. The
iPhone-maker will kick off its plans by
opening the iOS 8.3 beta in mid-March,
and the iOS 9 beta in the summer, ahea
of a fall release with the next iPhone.
With the first iOS public betas, Apple is
said to be trying to avoid the bug-laden
update rollout that was iOS 8, as per a
9to5Mac report that cites multiple peopl
with knowledge of the matter. Apple
traditionally offers beta builds only to
developers, who pay an annual fee for
that and other privileges. With the move,
Apple is also said to be trying to crack
down on the betas 'alternate economy'
wherein developers add regular users to
the beta program for a fee.
This is not the first time the company
has offered a public beta build in the
recent past however, with the Cupertino
giant providing 1 million people a chanc
to try out OS X Yosemite ahead of its
launch last year. Apple has since offered
public betas to these users for minor OS
X updates as well.
This time around though, Apple is said t
be opening the iOS public beta builds to
the first 100,000 users who sign up, in
order to maintain "exclusivity". The iOS
beta will be made available via the
existing AppleSeed program.
Users who manage to sign up will be
offered a dedicated bug-reporting app
alongside, similar to what developers an
OS X public beta build users have been
given in the past.
Apple started offering beta builds of iOS
8.3, codenamed 'Stowe', to developers
earlier this month. It has been tipped to
bring Wireless CarPlay, a new and
improved Emoji keyboard, an improved
voice for Siri, apart from an easier login
process for Google services.
Meanwhile, as reports previously tipped,
iOS 9, codenamed 'Monarch', is said to
be focused more upon stability
improvements and bug fixes. iOS users
have recently become disconcerted by th
numerous glitches and stability problem
they've had to face with iOS 8.
iOS 9, due to be unveiled at WWDC in
June, is also tipped to bring features
such as transit directions and indoor
modes to the mapping service. iOS 8.4 i
the meanwhile, is likely to bring its as-
yet-unnamed music streaming service,
leveraging the Beats Music ecosystem.
Apple Planning Public iOS Betas Starting With iOS 8.3 and iOS 9: Report | NDTV Gadgets
