Apple's iOS 12 Developer Beta 11 Released for iPhone

Apple released the eleventh developer beta for iOS 12 to registered software testers on Monday, Aug. 27, only four days after the company unexpectedly released both dev beta 10 and public beta 8. Apple has ramped up its beta release schedule as of late, offering minor updates twice a week in the lead-up to iOS 12's official debut in a few weeks.

Dev beta 11, like dev beta 10 before it, seems to be a minor update for developers, adding mostly subtle bug fixes and security patches to the mix. However, missing from its release notes is an issue that would prevent Siri Shortcuts from being accessible from the lock screen. It's likely this issue has been resolved.

Also, there is a known bug that causes a popup to appear telling you to update from the iOS 12 beta, which is supposedly caused by a faulty expiration issue with the beta. The alert would say the following:

A new iOS update is now available. Please update from the iOS 12 beta.

• Update: iOS 12 Dev Beta 12 Released, Fixes Software Update Bug

To download and update your iPhone to iOS 12 dev beta 11, you first need to be a registered public beta tester with a valid configuration profile. If you have iOS 12's new "Automatic Updates" enabled, you can let the software update overnight. To download the beta right now, however, launch the Settings app, select "General," then "Software Update." Tap "Download and Install," then follow the on-screen prompts to download and install dev beta 11.

Resolved Issues

According to Apple's release notes, iOS 12 dev beta 11 does not resolve any issues from dev beta 10.

Known Issues

All issues carried over to dev beta 11 are listed below:

App Store:

• While signed in with a production account and testing with a sandbox account, attempting to fetch a new valid receipt displays a sign-in prompt for the production account with no option for switching to the sandbox account. (42862150) — Workaround: For testing purposes, StoreKit calls such as making a purchase and restoring transactions will fetch a new receipt. Alternatively, sign out of the production account.

CoreGraphics:

• Various CoreGraphics calls have been hardened against continuing with invalid parameters. In iOS 12 beta, these calls may now return NULL or return early. (38344690)

HomeKit:

• Inviting iOS 11 users who have multiple email addresses associated with their Apple ID to a home might not succeed. (41033550) — Workaround: Send the invitation to a different email address or phone number associated with the Apple ID of the iOS 11 user.

Maps:

• Traffic data might not be displayed. (43254370) — Workaround: Tap the 'i' button to reveal Maps Settings and toggle the Traffic switch on.

MediaPlayer Framework:

• When a queueTransaction is performed on applicationQueuePlayer to modify the position of a song, the queue returns unchanged. (39401344)

Phone and FaceTime:

• Group FaceTime has been removed from the initial release of iOS 12 and will ship in a future software update later this fall.
• In iOS 12 beta, Camera Effects in Messages is available only on iPhone SE and iPhone 6s or later and is unavailable on iPad. Camera Effects in FaceTime is available only on iPhone 7 or later and is unavailable on iPad.
• Wi-Fi calls might end unexpectedly when transitioning from Wi-Fi to cellular while on the T-Mobile network. (39251828)

Screen Time:

• The start and stop times for Downtime might change unexpectedly if they were configured prior to installing iOS 12 beta 9. (43393555) — Workaround: Update all devices associated with the iCloud account to iOS 12 beta 9 or later and reset the start and stop times for Downtime.
• After updating to iOS 12 beta 7 or later, parents should change the Screen Time passcode to prevent children from signing out of iCloud or changing the system time. (42879250)
• "Picked Up Phone" statistics might be inflated due to data syncing from other devices signed into the same iCloud account. (39917173)

Siri:

• When using INUIAddVoiceShortcutButton, the "Add to Siri" and "Added to Siri" button text isn't localized. (43251696) — Workaround: To localize "Add to Siri" and "Added to Siri" button text, include localizations for this text in the strings files of your app bundle.
• While multiple ride-sharing apps are installed, Siri might open the app instead of providing an ETA or location when asked. (42324032) — Workaround: Ask Siri for the ETA or location again.
• Siri Suggestions for Shortcuts are enabled on iPhone 6s or later, iPad Pro, iPad (5th

generation or later), iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 4. (40669231)

UIKit:

• You might encounter issues with systemLayoutSizeFitting(_:) when using a UICollectionViewCell subclass that requires updateConstraints(). (42138227) — Workaround: Don't call the cell's setNeedsUpdateConstraints() method unless you need to support live constraint changes. If you need to support live constraint changes, call updateConstraintsIfNeeded() before calling systemLayoutSizeFitting(_:).

Xcode:

• When using Messages in the iOS Simulator, a message might not be delivered from User A to User B. (40916530) — Workaround: Send a message from User B to User A.

Even with the controversy surrounding the buggy dev beta 7, testers universally agree that iOS 12 is an incredible improvement over last year's iOS 11. Overall stability and performance are key to those accolades, as users report that iOS 12 makes iPhones even as old as the 5S run better than ever.

But it's not just improved performance that users should look forward to. The new iOS 12 comes packed with some great features. Arguably the best is the updated notification system, which brings notifications on iOS to the same level of quality as Android. While the new grouping mechanism is largely responsible for these improvements, it's certainly not the only change that users will notice.

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Cover image by Jake Peterson/Gadget Hacks