The iOS 12 Beta Update Glitch Is Fixed

Apple has pushed out a new iOS 12 Beta, fixing the frustrating bug that pestered early users with notifications for a non-existent update. Reports of the glitch began circulating yesterday, with iPhone owners on Apple's beta track finding that their device would repeatedly notify them that a new version was available, only for iOS to then say that no update was actually to be found.

If it had happened once it would be fine, but the notification was a repeat offender. Indeed, every time people unlocked their iPhone – or reached for the notification panel – it would pop up with its baseless teasing of new software. Happily for iPhone owners' collective sanity, Apple has fixed it.

If you're on the developer track, it's iOS 12 developer beta 12. Those on the public track, meanwhile, get iOS 12 public beta 10. You can trigger the download manually by heading into the iOS settings page and checking for updates.

Apple hasn't commented on the glitch, but that hasn't stopped developers from digging into what could be the cause of the problem. Guilherme Rambo, for example, suggests it's a Springboard issue, the iOS home screen manager. On the previous, problematic beta, that was apparently of the opinion that the current build was about to expire.

Since there was, in reality, no replacement for it, users got stuck in the notification cycle. With a long-weekend in the US almost upon us – given it's Labor Day on Monday – the prospect of three days or more of confused alerts for software that didn't exist had some considering a last-minute smartphone detox.

That will no longer be necessary, and iPhone users will be able to continue distracting themselves from annoying family members at group barbecues across the weekend.

Beyond that, it doesn't appear that there are any other changes in the new beta version. Indeed the expectation is that all Apple's engineers did was fix the expiration bug. Previous iterations have introduced ARKit 2.0 and Siri Shortcuts, along with adding greater Siri integration into third-part apps. Notifications, too, have been improved, and Apple's new Memoji have been added to Messages.

The date of the full, public release of iOS 12 is expected to be announced alongside the new iPhone 2018 range, likely to be the iPhone XS. That should take place on September 12.