IOS dev beta 18.2 beta 3 is out

By Dennis Long, 20 November, 2024

Forum
Apple Beta Releases

Anyone have any thoughts on beta 3?

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If you're using a beta version, use the Feedback Assistant on your device to submit feedback and bug reports. If you're using a public release, follow the instructions on this page.

Comments

By Holger Fiallo on Thursday, November 21, 2024 - 16:38

Heard that the issue with notes looks like it is fix. This is beta with the letter A and after will be RC. Probably after Thanksgiving. If Apple releases another beta next week, it might beta 4 but probably not.

By peter on Thursday, November 21, 2024 - 16:38

Looks like one can now navigate by line using Voiceover in the Notes app with iOS 18.2 beta 3 (on my iPhone 15 Pro).

--Pete

By peter on Thursday, November 21, 2024 - 16:38

I'm new to trying iOS betas on my phone. Fortunately the betas of iOS 18.2 seem to be pretty robust and I haven't observed many issues.

Question: In the Software Update dialog, it never seems to tell me which beta is currently installed. It has always said "iOS 18.2 is up to date" no matter which beta I had installed. It would be nice to know which beta is installed and running.

Also, I haven't seen any documentation on what new features or fixes have been included for each beta as I do when updating to new release versions of iOS. Again, it would be nice to know what new features have been added and what fixes were made. This way I might have a better idea what to test and beat on.

Is there a way of getting any of this info about version number and/or new features and fixes? Maybe I missed something.

Thanks.

--Pete

By Dennis Long on Thursday, November 21, 2024 - 16:38

Hi Pete You will find in the Feedback app a list of some of the changes and fixes. This may not be everything they fixed though.

By Levi Gobin on Thursday, November 21, 2024 - 16:38

The way of seeing if you’re on a certain beta is to look at the build number, and this can tell you what beta you’re on. The build number for the latest update is “22C5142a”.
The first number (22) tells you the version of iOS, in this case iOS 18. Last year all build numbers started with 21, and iOS 16’s build numbers all started with 20.
One key thing to keep in mind is that the closer the letter at the very end of the build number is to the letter a, the closer you are to an RC release. For example, if the build number was 22C5142f, you would know that you still had a few betas to go. Since the build number actually is 22C5142a, this means we should see the RC (release candidate) version next, or maybe after a beta five.
As far as checking out what’s new, several news sites such as 9to5Mac and Mac rumors will sometimes post articles on the new changes.
If you would rather the updates be in video format, one highly recommended channel is https://youtube.com/@brandonbutch?si=5odME1xttZI1_uMe.
You can also see Apple’s published release notes in the Feedback app, which may list new features, as well as known issues and their workarounds.
This is also where you would go to file reports for things not working.
If you don’t have a beta installed but you would still like to report issues or see the release notes, in your web browser, go to the following link:
applefeedback://
That should open the Feedback app, but it probably won’t save it to your home screen. If you are running a beta version of iOS, you obviously don’t have to worry about this. If you do want feedback assistant to remain on your Home Screen and you’re not on a beta, you could probably make a shortcut that opens that url and save that shortcut to your home screen.
Hope this clarifies everything for you.

By peter on Thursday, November 21, 2024 - 16:38

@Dennis Long and @Levi

Thanks. Found all the details in the Feedback app. I actually submitted feedback there before but never thought to look for any what's new info there.

I also found the full version number in the "About" dialog under the General settings. I was looking in the "Software Update" dialog.

Anyway, thanks a bunch.

--Pete

By Holy Diver on Thursday, November 21, 2024 - 16:38

Other than my BsI losing track of my dot 3 left hand ring finger, which was solved quickly enough with recalibration everything seems stable on my end. Though iOS is a secondary thing I use lightly and narrowly so I may have missed something obvious.

By Brian on Thursday, November 21, 2024 - 16:38

So glad to hear this is being worked on/fixed. I discovered that it is not just Apple Notes, but, any, notes application available to iOS. Granted I did not download every app out there, but I downloaded a bunch from the App store to see if I could find a suitable alternative until this bug is fixed, and none of the note-based applications allowed for line by line reading with VO.
Furthermore, Apple Journal also does not allow Line by Line reading with VO.

Can we say frustrating ... ?

By Igna Triay on Thursday, November 21, 2024 - 16:38

I get the letter bit. But the number... Not quite. I mean why is the number 22, 21 for 17 and 20 for 16? Wouldn't it make more sence for the number to be same as the beta? I don't get the numbers bit. Like what's the reasor it? It seems interesting.

By Chris on Thursday, November 21, 2024 - 16:38

The first number in any build string is the version of Darwin being used. From what I can tell, Darwin is the open source core of all Apple's systems. For whatever reason, Apple is using Darwin 22 for iOS 18, while macOS Sequoia uses version 24. The next letter appears to correspond to the major point release, with A being the major.0 release, B being major.1, C being major.2, etc. Thanks for the information about the last letter indicating how far we are in the beta cycle. I didn't know that. When we reach a stable release, notice the letter at the end is removed.

By Joe on Thursday, November 21, 2024 - 16:38

I had mine set to always and they changed the going over 100 method. I just now see a slider for media in the settings and have to choose where that goes

By Levi Gobin on Friday, November 22, 2024 - 16:38

I think I like this new way of audio ducking better, because I think it will still allow you to independently adjust the volume and the audio ducking amount at once, which is going to be interesting to mess around with.
I noticed that when I first installed the beta, my eloquence was set to 80% volume instead of 100 how I had it.
At first when I saw this new change I was worried that I couldn’t adjust the ducking amountfrom the rotor, but at the very bottom of the list is a rotor item for that. And I had to move it up right next to audio ducking itself for easy access.