iOS 12 Public Beta 7 Officially Released, Testing Nears Its End

Apple on Tuesday released iOS 12 public beta 7 to software testers, shortly after seeding the ninth developer beta.

Despite the number discrepancy, iOS 12 public beta 7 and developer beta 9 are the same software platform. The difference was due to a buggy software release that resulted in developer beta 7 being pulled before a public beta was made available.

Registered Apple devs can download iOS 12 beta 9 from the Developer’s Portal or as an over-the-air update. The public beta analog, beta 7, is also available to Apple public software testers.

Issues Resolved in iOS 12 Public Beta 7

The latest batch of iOS 12 betas are relatively minor. They don’t add any significant new features and the only fix that was included patches an issue with language localization. The release notes indicate that clipped or untranslated text should no longer show up in localized text.

Issues Found in iOS 12 Public Beta 7

There are still a number of known issues present in iOS 12 beta 7, according to the release notes.

• Issues with invited users that have multiple email addresses to HomeKit.
• Inflation issues with Picked Up Phone data in Screen Time.
• And problems using Siri Shortcuts when a device is locked.
• Wi-Fi calls may also end randomly on T-Mobile.
• Apple Pay may be unavailable during certain instances.

Apple also notes that parents should change the Screen Time passcode when upgrading to iOS 12 beta 7 to mitigate any sign-out issues.

iOS 12 beta 7 also introduces two new issues: traffic data may not show up properly in Apple Maps and Downtime settings might be thrown off when updating to the new beta platform.

We are, however, approaching the end of the iOS 12 beta testing cycle. Users should expect more frequent but minor beta releases as Apple engineers attempt to squash the remaining bugs in the software update.

When it launches, iOS 12 will be a major update to Apple’s mobile operating system. Along with performance enhancements and stability improvements, the software update will add a slew of new features and capabilities

iOS 12 will launch in the fall as a free over-the-air update for all eligible devices, which includes the full lineup of Apple products that were supported by iOS 11.