The danger of installing a beta version is always present and sometimes these test versions can contain quite blocking bugs.
Image by charlie0111 from Pixabay
Computer, smartphone, connected watch, connected television, internet box, video game consoles, etc., all your devices work using software.
In order to help the development of these programs, whether they are simple software or complete operating systems, developers produce beta versions.
These are versions under development which are made available to a small number of users. These versions may contain more or less annoying bugs and the aim of installing them by a large number of people is to detect them.
Users registered in the manufacturers’ beta test programs can thus benefit from future features before their launch. In exchange, they must communicate to the developers any malfunction detected.
This is particularly the case of the well-known Windows Insider program which allows Windows developments to be tested before their launch (and sometimes even before their abandonment).
But let’s talk about Apple here. With the large number of digital products from the Apple firm, beta programs are numerous. Like those who allowed iOS 18 to see the light of day.
Some of these betas go beyond specific testing groups and become public betas. If they are not deployed automatically (they are not official updates yet), any user can download them.
What happened with the Apple Watch 11.1 beta 3 rollout?
As its name suggests, Apple Watch 11.1 beta 3 is therefore the operating system that governs Apple Watch connected watches and it is in its third beta version. And it didn’t go as well as expected.
In fact, many users testing this v3 saw access to their connected watch blocked. In some cases, restarting the device could resolve the issue, but in many others, the screen remained frozen even after restarting and access to the watch was impossible.
Apple then rushed to withdraw this update.
Apple has pulled watchOS 11.1 beta 3.
Users on the MacRumors forums and Reddit have complained about their watches “locking up” until rebooted.
This comes after Apple has recently pulled iPadOS 18.0 for M4 iPads and HomePod Software 18.1 beta 2 for bricking concerns.
— Aaron (@aaronp613) October 3, 2024
It could have stopped there, but it seems that the Apple brand is having some small problems deploying its systems lately.
Indeed, as noted by MacRumors reporter Aaron Perris (on 9to5Macthis incident comes after Apple had to block iPadOS 18 updates for the iPad Pro M4s and beta 2 of the HomePod 18.1 operating system (HomePod Software 18.1 beta 2) was also withdrawn.
When we tell you that betas are perhaps good for having new things, but less good for your everyday life.
Note also that Apple clearly indicates on its beta download pages that these are not final programs and that it is better to avoid installing them on your main device. Yes, it’s better.
