Apple unveiled the latest version of iOS, iOS 11, at WWDC 2017 Keynote earlier today and it comes with a number of new features and improvements, including peer-to-peer payments in Apple Pay, redesigned Lock screen, Control Center, and Notification Center, Siri support for new languages, an all-new design for the App Store, and much more.
As always, Apple has seeded the first beta version of iOS 11 to developers. If you’re a member of the Apple Developer program, you can easily download and iOS 11 beta on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch right now. The process is quite simple and in this guide, we’ll show you how.
Before starting, take note of the following points:
- You have to be a member of Apple’s Developer program to install iOS 11 beta. If you’re not, you can enroll in the program for $99 per year.
- Beta versions are usually buggy, so please proceed at your own risk.
- Make sure that you take a complete back of your iOS device using iTunes or iCloud before upgrading to iOS 11 beta.
- Check our post to find out which iPhone, iPad and iPod touch models are supported by iOS 11:
Provisioning
This is where you assign devices for development and testing purpose:
- Login to your Account on Apple’s Developer website.
- Click on Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles.
- Next, click on All under Devices in the left navigational panel.
- Then click on the + button at the top right corner to add your iOS device.
- Here you need to enter the UDID of the iOS device, which is a 40 hex character string. You can find the UDID using iTunes:
- Connect your iPhone to your Mac or PC and launch iTunes.
- In iTunes, look for the tiny little icon that looks like an iPhone next to the little dropdown menu in the iTunes menus and tabs area. Click the iPhone icon.
- Click the Serial Number label; the label will change to UDID.
- Right click on the UDID and then click on Copy to copy the UDID to your clipboard.
- Go back to Apple’s Developer website, now enter the name of the iOS Device and paste the UDID that you have copied from the above step and click on the Continue button.
- You will be prompted to review the details. Click on the Register button, followed by Done to complete the registration process for your iOS device.
How to Install iOS 11 Beta Using the Configuration Profile
- Download the Configuration Profile from the Apple Developer download page. You can download the Configuration Profile directly on your iOS device and follow the installation instructions. Alternatively, you can save the file to your hard disk on your Mac or PC and email it to an account on your iPhone. Tap the Configuration Profile in Mail and follow the installation instructions.
- Once you’ve installed the configuration profile, go to Settings > General > Software Update.
- Tap Download and Install.
- To update now, tap Install.
- If asked, enter your passcode.
How to Install iOS 11 beta using iTunes
1. Download iOS 11 Beta
- After you’ve successfully registered your device’s UDID, click on the Platform link in the navigation bar at the top, followed by iOS, and then Download.
- Under iOS 11 beta, select your device’s model from the drop down under Restore Image.
- Ensure you have the latest version of iTunes installed.
2. Install iOS 11 Beta
Once you’ve downloaded the IPSW file from the previous step, you’re ready to install it on your iOS device using iTunes.
- Open iTunes.
- Connect your iOS device to your Mac and launch iTunes.
- Look for the tiny little icon that looks like an iPhone next to the little drop-down menu in the iTunes menus and tabs area. Click the iPhone icon.
- Hold down on the Option key (or the Shift key in Windows) and click the Check for Update button.
- Now select the .ipsw file that you had downloaded previously to install iOS 11 beta and click on the Open button.
- iTunes may prompt you that it will erase your device and install iOS 11. Click Ok to continue.
- You will get a ‘Slide to upgrade’ slider after it reboots. Swipe on the slider to proceed.
- Your device will reboot again, and you’ll be greeted with the ‘Hello’ welcome screen. Swipe on the ‘Slide to setup’ slider and tap on Continue and follow the on-screen instructions to setup your device.
That’s it! Now that you have successfully installed iOS 11 beta on your iPhone or iPad, you can enjoy using the new features that it provides or get started with testing and developing your apps for iOS 11.
Let us know what you think of Apple’s new iOS firmware and share your experience with us in the comments below.
