- Apple just launched an AI-packed iOS 18 beta.
- But it’s running at the same time as the regular 18.0 beta.
- Together with Apple’s self-imposed EU version of iOS 18, it’s a confusing mess.
Apple’s iOS 18.0 beta is in full testing, with at least six weeks to go before the final launch. So why did it just launch and confuse the heck out of everyone, users and developers alike?
There are two main points of an operating system beta. One is to get everything in the beta fixed up before pushing it to millions of users. The other is to let developers test that their own apps run properly on the new OS and to let them include any cool new features in those apps. But it seems like Apple is so far behind on its AI features that it’s bringing them forward at the expense of users and developers.
“Giving developers two beta versions to test is going to be a disaster for a lot of folks,” says Craig Hockenberry, a veteran Apple developer and currently a principal at the Iconfactory, on Mastodon. “Developers install 18.1 because it’s the new hotness. And then September rolls around and everyone realizes they haven’t been testing their apps _on the 18.0 release shipping to customers.”
Skipping Basic in Favor of AI
At this summer’s WWDC keynote, Apple showed several future AI features for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. It also said that most of these features would not ship until after the main iOS 18 release, which usually coincides with the arrival of new iPhones in stores in mid- to late-September.
And now we know when at least some of these features will arrive. The “point one” releases of iOS and iPadOS usually show up around late October, so that’s when we will see things like the new Siri design, the Writing Tools AI writing assistant, type-to-Siri, summaries and transcripts, new Mail categories and smart replies, smart replies in Messages, and more, which are now available for testing.
Even though Apple has plenty of experience with AI, the sheer amount of new AI features mean there will be a lot of creases to iron out, so it makes sense to get started early. But by running two betas simultaneously, things just get confusing. As developer Craig Hockenberry notes, many developers will skip the basic testing of their apps on iOS 18 to check out the new features in 18.1, which could lead to a pretty ragged experience on launch day. We could be in for an iOS 13-style mess, where the release was so botched that people were put off upgrading their phones for years afterwards.
No AI for the EU
And there’s an added complication, also entirely of Apple’s making. The AI features of this point-one release are not available in the EU. Effectively, Apple is testing three versions of its operating system simultaneously.
In June, Apple told the UK’s Financial Times that it would withhold iOS 18’s AI features from the EU due to “regulatory uncertainties.” Apple has already shipped many AI features on all of its devices and has done so for years, from back when AI was called ML, or machine learning. Apple is also perfectly capable of asking the European Commission whether the new AI features would be in breach of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that the EC is using to curb the worst of Big Tech’s overreaches.
“The EU’s strict data protection laws impose high standards on data collection, storage, and usage. AI features, particularly those involving personal data processing, must comply with EU regulations,” Mitchell Cookson, co-founder of AI Tools Inc., told Lifewire via email.
As I wrote in another Lifewire article at the time, Apple doesn’t like being told what to do and is trying to use the AI features as leverage against Europe’s laws. And as we see today, it’s doing this at the expense of both users and developers, increasing complexity and weakening its own products.
“I am a bit apprehensive about built-in AI in iOS 18 and macOS. While AI is certainly not going anywhere and will no doubt play a big role in personal technology in the years to come, it’s no secret that it is something that still poses a ton of legal and ethical questions,” Edward Tian, CEO of AI-detection site GPTZero, told Lifewire via email.
But it’s not all bad news. If you’re an EU resident who doesn’t want your Apple device infested with questionable, environmentally damaging AI, then Apple’s self-ban on bringing them to Europe could be considered a bonus.
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News Summary:
- Apple’s New-But-Separate iOS 18.1 AI Beta Is a Weird Nightmare
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