Should You Install Apple iOS 9 Beta? Apple Inc.'s Latest OS For iPhones And iPads Is Almost Ready For Primetime

Apple’s iOS 9 had its first public beta release on Thursday, after the company promised at last month’s Worldwide Developers Conference that a beta would arrive in July. The question is, should you install it?

The important thing to remember is that the software is in a pre-release form. Bugs and errors are highly likely, and the software is provided on the understanding that the user will report the errors to Apple. That way, when the final release comes in the fall, Apple will (ideally) have fixed it so that others don’t experience the same issues.

What To Know

What sort of issues? It could be anything. Your microphone could stop working. You might lose cellular data. Your Wi-Fi could stop working. On the other hand, it might be alright. Use cases are different from device to device, so it’s hard to recommend to anyone that downloading the beta is a good idea and that there won’t be any issues. Issues can crop up further down the line in future beta updates.

The important thing to remember is that you can downgrade back to the current iOS if you want to. This is for beta versions only: Consumers usually cannot downgrade after upgrading, but if you decide the beta isn’t for you, here’s what you do.

How To Uninstall

Go to Settings > General > Profiles, choose the iOS 9 Beta Profile, and hit delete. Back up your device, either through iCloud or iTunes, then reinstall the shipping software by putting the device into recovery mode and restoring it.

Switch off your device, then plug it into your computer holding down the Home button as you do so. When you see the diagram of a cable with the iTunes logo, let go of the button. iTunes should then prompt you on the computer to restore to factory settings. Once this is complete you will have the option to restore from backup, after which your device will be back to the current non-beta version of iOS.

How To Install

If you're ready to dive in, you can find detailed instructions on how to get started here. Have your Apple ID password and iOS device at hand. It's also advisable to connect to a good Wi-Fi connection and plug your device in while it updates.

If all that sounds too complicated or you'd rather not take the risk, iOS 9 will be available to the general public in the fall. At that point, the public beta will have been running for a few months, and any show-stopping bugs should have been found by early adopters trying the software at home.