14 DAY TRIAL // Apple seeded today the third beta updates of its upcoming iOS 11.4, macOS High Sierra 10.13.5, tvOS 11.4, and watchOS 4.3.1 operating systems to registered developers.
The iOS 11.4 beta 3 (15F4061d and 15F4061e), macOS 10.13.5 beta 3 (17F59b), tvOS 11.4 beta 3 (15L5560b), and watchOS 4.3.1 beta 3 (15T5555c) development versions come just one week after Apple released the iOS 11.3.1 software update to supported iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices the other day, along with the Security Update 2018-001 for macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 and Safari 11.1 web browser.
They are accompanied by the second Xcode 9.4 beta, which includes latest beta macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS SDKs. Registered developers with an active Apple Developer subscription can now download the new beta updates on their registered devices if they're running the beta 2 builds released two weeks ago.
You can install them on your registered devices through the OTA (Over-the-Air) update system, or, if you're new to the iOS 11.4, macOS 10.13.5, tvOS 11.4, and watchOS 4.3.1 beta testing, you'll have to first download the latest beta profiles from the downloads section on your Apple Developer accounts and then install the latest betas.
iOS 11.4 to bring Messages in iCloud
As for the changes included in today's iOS 11.4 beta 3, macOS 10.13.5 beta 3, tvOS 11.4 beta 3, and watchOS 4.3.1 beta 3, Apple only mentions a few known issues in the release notes on our Apple Developer account, as well as the fact that iOS 11.4 will bring the long-anticipated Messages in iCloud feature.
"iOS 11.4 beta includes Messages in iCloud for testing and evaluation purposes. Messages will prompt users to turn on Messages in iCloud on first launch after upgrading to iOS 11.4 beta. Please note that Messages in iCloud is automatically enabled for users who have two-factor authentication and iCloud Backup enabled," said Apple.
Other than that, we believe the new betas focus mostly on bug fixes and security improvements as Apple confirmed earlier this year that it would focus on security and stability instead of new features for the next releases of its operating systems. We'll update this story once the public beta 3 updates are out for iOS 11.4, macOS 10.13.5, and tvOS 11.4.
Update 9:15pm: Apple also released the public beta 3 versions of its upcoming iOS 11.4, macOS High Sierra 10.13.5, and tvOS 11.4 operating systems. Public beta testers can now install the new beta releases on their devices if they are running a previous beta or use our in-depth tutorials to install them (here, here and here).
