If you’re an iPhone user that is curious about installing the iOS 17 beta onto your iPhone, you might be happy to know that iOS 17 beta is available for everyone if they enroll their Apple ID in the now free developer program. Previously, users had to pay an annual membership, but Apple has now changed the Apple Developer program so that the free tier has full access to beta system software, including iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and MacOS Sonoma.
Beta system software is buggier than final versions of system software, and are therefore generally only recommended for advanced users (there’s a reason this is called the developer beta – it is intended for developers only). You may experience performance issues, apps crashing, general bugginess, incompatibilities, and other general problems with iOS 17 beta, but if you’re OK with that, and you’re compelled to try out iOS 17 beta on a separate iPhone, you can do that.
Installing iOS 17 beta onto an iPhone with the Apple Developer beta program is free and relatively easy, so let’s walkthrough how to accomplish that.
Requirements to Install iOS 17 Beta
The following prerequisites are necessary before you can install iOS 17 beta onto an iPhone:
- iOS 17 compatible iPhone, which is an iPhone XS/XR or newer
- Apple ID to enroll in the free Apple developer program
- Understanding that beta iOS is buggy, under development, with suboptimal performance
If you’re an advanced user who can tolerate buggy system software, potential incompatibilities, performance problems, and all other quirks that come with beta system software, proceed.
How to Install iOS 17 Developer Beta
Before anything else, you must backup iPhone to iCloud, and preferably also to your Mac or Windows PC. Failure to backup could result in permanent data loss.
- Back up your iPad to a computer and/or iCloud if you have not done so yet
- Go to the Apple Developer portal and sign-up with your Apple ID to join the developer program, this gives your Apple ID access to the developer beta
- Open the “Settings” app on your iPhone
- Go to “General”
- Go to “Software Update”
- Go to “Beta Updates”
- Select “iOS 17 Developer Beta” from the options, then go back to the main Software Update screen
- With iOS 17 Developer Beta available, tap to “Download and Install” to begin the process of installing iOS 17 beta onto your iPhone
The iPhone will download iOS 17 beta, and after completing and rebooting, you will soon be using iOS 17 on the iPhone.
With iOS 17 beta, you’re free to use the new personalized phone call cards with Contact Posters, interact with widgets, send and receive FaceTime video voicemails, use the live voicemail transcript feature, use the check-in feature to notify family and friends about your arrival at destinations, use the new Stickers features, and so much more.
You can get future iOS 17 beta updates directly from the Settings app > General > Software Update.
The finalized version of iOS 17 is set for release this fall, and users can update directly from the beta versions to the final version.
Are you going to install iOS 17 developer beta onto your iPhone? Will you wait for the public beta instead? Or do you have the patience to wait all the way until the final version is released in the fall? Let us know your experiences and thoughts in the comments!
