Macworld The beta of iOS 17 has arrived and beta testers have raced to install it on their iPhones. Testing the beta of iOS 17 does give you a glimpse of what is to come later this year when the final version of iOS 17 arrives, but installing a beta can have more risks than benefits, especially early on in the beta testing process. If the buggy pre-release iOS 17 becomes more trouble than it is worth here’s how to remove it. Step 1: Wipe your iPhone If you want to remove the beta from your device in theory it should be a case of recovering a backup from before you installed the beta. However, when a beta is installed…

Macworld “Passkey” is the name for a simplified login process to websites that arrived in its full glory later this year with macOS 13 Ventura, iOS 16, and iPadOS 16. A passkey relies on broadly supported industry standards to let you carry out an encrypted login with almost no effort on your part after the initial setup. You can try a passkey without installing the public betas of these upcoming operating systems, as Apple built passkey support in a preview form into Safari across all its operating systems in iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and Safari 15 with macOS 12 Monterey. With the full release of passkeys in a few weeks or months, and Google and Microsoft’s announced support for compatible technology, you’re…

Macworld The first iOS 17 Developer Beta was released on the first day of WWDC, as is tradition. While it is meant for developers to begin building apps using new frameworks and APIs, and to test and send bug reports if their apps don’t work with the new software, it is technically available to anyone with a developer account. In fact, the Developer Beta used to require a paid membership to the developer program, which costs $99 a year. With iOS 17, Apple changed its policy to allow even those with free developer accounts (which otherwise only provide access to the developer forums and Xcode) to download the iOS 17 Developer Beta. Still, we recommend waiting for the Public Beta…

With iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura last year, Apple introduced Lockdown Mode, an optional security setting designed to protect the "very small number" of users who may be at risk of "highly targeted cyberattacks" from companies developing state-sponsored spyware, such as journalists, activists, and government employees. Starting with iOS 17 and watchOS 10, enabling Lockdown Mode on an iPhone also turns on Lockdown Mode on a paired Apple Watch. Apple says Lockdown Mode provides an "extreme" level of security, with strict limitations on apps, websites, and features. At launch, Lockdown Mode included the following protections:In the Messages app, most message attachment types other than images are blocked, and some features like link previews are unavailable. Incoming FaceTime calls…

Macworld Apple began the beta testing process for iOS 16.6 just a day after the iOS 16.5 release and about two weeks before the expected first iOS 17 developer beta arrives at WWDC. The beta was first released to developers first on May 19, and to public beta testers on May 22. We don’t expect there to be much in the way of new features in this release–iOS 16 is about as mature as it’s going to be, and all eyes are on the impending features announced for iOS 17. Still, small tweaks and usability upgrades are possible just as we got in iOS 16.5, and of course security updates are never-ending. Most of us have moved on to iOS…

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Until recently, you had to be a developer (or willing to pay to be considered a developer) in order to access the earliest version of iOS. However, things have changed: you can now download the latest developer beta releases for free — at your own risk, naturally. Here’s how to install the beta software on your iPhone or iPad once it’s available for your device. Before we get started, a word of warning: beta software is inherently unfinished and may contain bugs. Apple’s public betas (which are usually released around July) are generally more stable, but its developer betas are less so, and you should think carefully before installing them on any device…