Later this year, you’ll be able to better customize your Control Center and Home screen, lock and hide your apps, and use a new password manager app, all thanks to iOS 18.
But if you don’t want to wait until fall to try all these new features, you can download iOS 18 right now, provided you can run a developer beta on your iPhone.
Learn more: Apple announces iOS 18 at WWDC 2024. Here’s what you need to know
Apple announced iOS 18 this week at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), its annual developer seminar. The latest iOS update brings new features like a redesigned home screen, customizable Control Center, locked and hidden apps, satellite text messaging, and a huge redesign of the Photos app.
And there are of course all the new AI features.
Look at this: iPad OS finally gets a calculator app
While the general release of iOS 18 is scheduled for later this year, Apple has already released the first developer beta of iOS 18, which you can download immediately, provided you are enrolled in the Apple Developer Program.
The Apple Developer Program has long required a membership fee, to the tune of $100 per year, but last year, with the release of the iOS 17 Developer Beta, Apple created a free tier of the Apple Developer Program, which allows you to download any beta version from the developer. for free – provided you have an Apple ID.
If you want to try iOS 18 today, here’s how to do it.
Why you might want to download the iOS 18 Developer Beta now
Let me just say that just because you can download the iOS 18 Developer Beta for free doesn’t mean you should or should.
Early developer betas, like this one, are for developers to test their apps on upcoming versions of iOS. It’s also a way for developers to identify and report bugs, which helps Apple improve the software before it’s released to the general public. And that’s one of the main reasons why you might not want to download the iOS 18 Developer Beta on your phone: bugs.
A software bug, or any other problem, can make your phone unstable. You may not be able to use some of your favorite apps, and even if you can, you may have to deal with apps that crash unexpectedly. The performance of your entire phone may be affected: the developer beta may cause your phone to slow down or cause your battery to drain faster than usual or even overheat.
That being said, I’ve downloaded developer betas on my personal iPhone for the past decade and haven’t encountered any really major issues. It’s especially annoying when an app crashes or my battery runs out quickly, but I’ve always managed it.
If you have a backup iPhone, you should definitely use it for the iOS 18 Developer Beta because you won’t need it every day, so you won’t feel the full effects of bugs or other issues . But if you don’t have one, running the iOS 18 Developer Beta on your primary computer should be enough. Hopefully.
And if you still want iOS 18 but don’t want to bother with the developer beta, there’s still the more stable public beta for iOS 18, which is due out later this month. You can register for this here.
What to Know Before Downloading the iOS 18 Developer Beta
Before you start downloading the iOS 18 Developer Beta, you need to know a few things listed here:
- You need a supported phone. iOS 18 will work on iPhone XS and later.
- Update your phone. It’s best to update to the latest general release before moving to a developer beta. The latest version of iOS is currently 17.5.1. You’ll need to at least be running iOS 16.4 if you want to download the iOS 18 developer beta as an over-the-air update.
- Also back up your phone. You need a backup if you want to go back to iOS 17. To back up your phone, go to Settings > your name > iCloud > iCloud Backup > Back up now. You can also save it to your computer.
If your iPhone isn’t automatically backing up, you can do it manually through your Settings.
You are now ready to enroll in the Apple Developer program.
How to sign up for the Apple Developer Program for free
As I mentioned, there is now a free tier of the Apple Developer program, which allows you to download any developer beta without paying. Using the Apple ID connected to the device you want to update to iOS 18, follow these steps:
1. Go to the Apple Developer website, click the three-dash menu at the top left, then tap Account in the menu that appears.
2. Sign in with your Apple ID.
3. Finally, read the Apple Developer Agreement, check all the boxes and tap Submit.
You won’t have full access to the developer tools offered by the paid Apple Developer Program membership, but you will have access to the iOS 18 Developer Beta. If you’re a developer, you should consider signing up for the version paid.
You can then scroll down to Software Downloads to see everything you can install, including the iOS 18 Developer Beta.
Install iOS 18 Developer Beta Live on Your iPhone
You can download the iOS 18 Developer Beta manually, but the easiest way to do so is to perform an over-the-air update, just like you would download and install your regular iOS update. After signing up for the Apple Developer Program, you should see the option to download the iOS 18 Developer Beta in your Settings.
To download the iOS 18 Developer Beta live, here’s what you need to do:
1. On your iPhone, go to Settings > General > Software update.
2. Next, go to Beta Updates and tap the button iOS 18 Developer Beta option.
3. Finally, go back and tap Download and install under the new “iOS 18 Developer Beta” option that appears.
Note: If you don’t see the iOS 18 beta option, you’ll have to wait.
Enter your password, agree to the terms and conditions, then wait for the update to install on your iPhone. Depending on your Internet connection, the whole process should take around 10 or 15 minutes.
Once your phone restarts, you should be running the iOS 18 Developer Beta.
You can also download the iOS 18 Developer Beta with your Mac
The problem with an over-the-air update is that it requires a certain amount of storage, so if your storage is almost full, you won’t be able to use the option from the previous section. Luckily, you can use your computer to update to the iOS 18 Developer Beta.
1. On your Mac, go to this Apple Developer Program download page, search for “iOS 18 beta”, click Download Restore Images and download the iOS beta software restore image for your iPhone model.
2. Connect your phone to your computer and enter your device passcode or tap Trust this computer.
3. Open a Finder window, then click your device in the sidebar under Locations.
4. Finally, hold down the Option key, click Check for an update and choose the iOS 18 beta software restore image you just downloaded from the Apple developer website.
If you don’t have storage on your iPhone, this is the way to get iOS 18.
The iOS 18 Developer Beta software will start installing on your iPhone. Wait a few minutes and when your phone restarts you should have access to iOS 18.
To learn more, find out how you’ll soon be able to use your iPhone on your Mac.