Development seems to be on track for planned fall debut

Jun 27, 2014 07:58 GMT  ·  By

Apple plans to seed the third beta of iOS 8 to developers on Tuesday, July 8, according to people who are familiar with the company’s internal development cycles. iOS 8 will be available to the public sometime this fall, according to the Cupertino giant.

Trusted sources tell BGR that there will be a three-week gap between the current beta, which arrived on June 17, and the upcoming iOS 8 Beta 3, which is slated to arrive on July 8.

The news isn’t surprising, considering how much time there is left until the deadline for iOS 8’s public debut. Apple has always seeded at least three betas of major new iOS versions to developers before unleashing these updates to the general population, and this year doesn’t look any different.

“iOS 8 is the biggest iOS release ever — for developers and everyone else. But that wasn’t the goal. We simply set out to create the most natural experience,” Apple says on the marketing pages of iOS 8.

“Each enhancement has a purpose. Every new feature deserves to be a new feature. Each function is more considered, each next step is more efficient. It all adds up to an even better experience — one that is pleasantly surprising at first and becomes utterly indispensable before you know it.”

To download and take the current beta of iOS 8 for a test drive, you need to be a registered developer with Apple. The $99 (€72) yearly subscription grants anyone access to iOS 8 Beta 2 as well as the software development kit made specifically for this version of the OS.

iOS 8 is supported on iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPad second generation, iPad third generation, iPad fourth generation, iPad Air, iPad mini, iPad mini with Retina display, and iPod touch fifth generation.

On its developer portal, Apple tells interested parties to “Be sure to backup your devices using the latest version iTunes or through iCloud backup prior to installing iOS 8 beta. After installing iOS 8 beta, you can restore your device using either the latest version of iTunes or through your iCloud backup.”

“This version of iOS is intended only for installation on development devices registered with Apple's Developer Program. Attempting to install this version of iOS in an unauthorized manner could put your device in an unusable state, which could necessitate an out of warranty repair,” the Cupertino tech titan warns.

Developers are also informed that any iDevice updated to iOS 8 beta will not be able to revert back to earlier versions of iOS, while upgrading to future beta releases and the final iOS software will require registered development devices.