Previous iOS Beta testers - How safe is it for things like calls/texts/etc.?

Software
21

That reminds me of an old joke about a man who fell from the Empire State Building. He was heard repeating that phrase as he went past each floor.

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23

I have the iPadOS and macOS betas installed on 2nd devices, but I never install the beta on my phone. I see it as a potential emergency use device, and I don’t mess with that.

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Incidentally, I’ve reverted back to the current OS. It broke other AI dictation software. I did really like the home screen tinting and some of the other stuff - but I’ll have to wait until it’s stable.

And, incidentally, rolling back was unexpectedly tricky. Apparently it didn’t recognize “home”, and stolen device protection somehow got turned on, so I had to wait an hour and then jump through all the weird hoops of wiping completely, re-installing the old OS, then restoring my backup.

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25

When I was working I usually ran the early betas but I kept everything on our servers and could re-image my MBP in 15 minutes or so. I still miss being able to boot from an external drive.

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Yeah, computers are definitely easier. What I didn’t realize at first is that the backup I took to my Mac didn’t have the old OS in it, and wasn’t tied to it in any meaningful way.

This is NOT a complaint, but just in case this is helpful for anybody else, this is how you would think it would work:

  • You make a current backup on iOS 17
  • You install iOS 18
  • You decide to roll back to iOS 17, and restore the backup you took on iOS 17
  • Your phone now has iOS 17 with all of your previous data

But it doesn’t. Even though you restored a backup made on iOS 17, you’ll still be on iOS 18 - with a fresh restore of whatever software/data/etc was in your backup.

The actual way a rollback works is:

  • You make a current backup on iOS 17
  • You install the iOS 18 beta
  • You decide to roll back, so using your computer, you completely wipe the phone and re-image the phone with iOS 17
  • THEN you restore the iOS 17 backup you made

After that you’ll be good to go.

This does illustrate one thing about iOS backups though - it’s not a “full backup.” It’s a selective backup of whatever Apple thinks you need. They make a number of assumptions, including that the OS isn’t part of the backup, apps can be re-downloaded from the store, apps like Overcast can re-download podcast episodes, etc.

Those assumptions may or may not be valid, so it’s worth considering them when looking at one’s backup strategy.

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The public betas are now available.