The beta season is coming. WWDC 2023 is just around the corner and this means that in a few weeks we will have among us the new beta versions of all Apple operating systems. Operating systems that, most likely, we will want to test before anyone else. And this is where what happened with betaprofiles.com comes into play.
To install beta versions of Apple operating systems, we need a configuration profile. A small file that we install on our iPhone, iPad or Mac so that it is able to search, find and install the versions under development instead of just the final versions. Something that will soon change, but, without getting ahead of ourselves, let’s start at the beginning.
Two beta programs according to the target audience
There are two types of beta cycles for Apple devices. On the one hand, there are the developer betas and on the other the public betas. Both differ in two key aspects: the target audience and the release dates. Public betas are open to anyone who wants to participate. We simply need to register on Apple’s website to download the profile and test the new versions.
On the other hand, developer betas are, as the name says, for developers. Experienced people with devices dedicated to testing and refining their applications before new operating systems arrive. This key difference means that when a new version of the same beta is released, it reaches developers earlier than the public program.
The reason is as simple as it is understood that developers will have more resources and willingness to weather any bugs in the operating systems. A device for development is not the iPhone we use every day, it is a specific one that, in case of any failure, we can restore as if nothing happened. One that, in addition, we will not use exhaustively, but to test specific developments.
This difference in the arrival date of the versions is a few days when the operating system is already in final versions, but during the launch it is between a month and a half and two and a half months. The public beta of a new system usually arrives when the third beta version for developers is released, which is usually six weeks after its presentation.
What happened to betaprofiles.com?
The betaprofiles.com site has closed. It closed, in fact, last August 2022. Until then, on this website we could download the developer profiles of the betas of all operating systems. A reference site to install iOS 16 and other betas that is no longer a resource.
How to download iOS 16 beta?
So how do we download iOS 16 beta? The easiest way is to register in Apple’s public beta program. From there we will have access to the latest versions under development and we will be able to test their new features. As we said before, the gap between these versions and the developer versions is only a few days.
Meanwhile, if we are developers, we will find the corresponding profiles at developer.apple.com, in the download section. So we will have immediate access to the new versions as soon as they are released.
How to download iOS 17 beta?
iOS 17 will be presented next June, during Apple’s developer conference. It will be at WWDC 2023 that we will see this new operating system and among the new features it will have a new distribution system. Starting with iOS 17, configuration profiles for betas will no longer be used.
Access to the developer beta of iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, whose concept looks spectacular, will be only for those devices that are logged in with an Apple ID that belongs to the developer program. No profiles, no downloads, no betaprofiles.com. A system with which Apple hopes that the initial errors of a new beta will not affect those who should not be affected.
Thus, the only option will be to wait for the beta to evolve, correct the first errors and be available on the public channel to test all the new features. A change that we already saw appear in the first beta of iOS 16.4 and that announces that we will have to be a little more patient to test all the new features of iOS 17.
