If you’re the ultra-conservative type who won’t drink a container of milk on its expiration date, you probably have never considered installing beta software on your phone. After all, such software is unstable and if you have a beta running your daily driver, well, you might end up not having access to an app that you need. But Apple has just released the RC version of iOS 17 and iPadOS 17.
The RC version of iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 are possible “Release Candidates” meaning that if no major issues are found, they will be the final versions of the two operating systems. And that means that if you want to have the latest version of iOS running on your iPhone before most of your pals, now is the time. Or, you can wait for Apple to send out the final version of iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 which it said that it will do on September 18th.
Among the new features on iOS 17 is StandBy which turns your iPhone into a smart display when you are charging it and have it in landscape orientation. With FaceTime, you can leave a video message when the person you are trying to have a video chat with isn’t answering the phone. Contact Posters will allow you to create the customized poster someone sees on their iPhone screen when you call them. With live voicemail, you can see a live transcription of a voicemail message being left and break in to take the call if you so desire.
Now available to install on your iPhone is the iOS 17 Release Candidate
Another new feature found on the iOS 17 RC delivers over 20 new ringtones and sound alerts. Some sound better after being remastered, some have stronger haptic feedback, and some no longer stop and pause before continuing to play. These are the sounds you select to hear when your iPhone gets a call, receives a text message, an email, or a calendar alert. This will be the first time that Apple has released multiple new ringtones for iOS since iOS 7 was released in 2013.
To install the iOS 17 Beta, click on this link, tap on “sign up” and do so using your Apple ID. Then, on your iPhone, go to Settings > General > Software Update and you should see the option to install iOS 17 Beta.
Besides iOS 17 RC, Apple released the Release Candidates for:
- watchOS 10 RC
- tvOS 17 RC
- macOS Sonoma RC
Again, if you still want to wait for the final, stable versions to be released, we don’t blame you one bit. After all, to reiterate, the final versions of iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, and tvOS 17 will be available on September 18th less than a week away. The macOS Sonoma stable update is scheduled to arrive on September 26.
