Apple Seeds Second Beta of iOS 12 to Developers

Apple this morning seeded the second beta of the upcoming iOS 12 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the first beta following the Worldwide Developers Conference.

Registered developers can download the first iOS 12 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air after installing the proper certificate.

The iOS 12 update brings major changes to the iOS operating system, with Apple working from top to bottom to make iPhones and iPads, especially older models, faster and more responsive.

On the iPhone X, there are new Animoji characters along with "Memoji" customizable, personalized Animoji that can be used both in Messages and in FaceTime. Messages and FaceTime have also gained fun new camera effects, and Group FaceTime support allows for calls with up to 32 people.

Siri is smarter in iOS 12 with a new Shortcuts feature that lets you create custom automations using first and third-party apps that can be activated with Siri, and Apple built a comprehensive set of time management and monitoring tools into iOS 12 with Screen Time.


New Do Not Disturb options make turning off notifications and distractions easier than ever, with a new Do Not Disturb at Bedtime feature cutting down on nighttime interruptions.


Group Notifications make notifications easier to view and manage, while a new Instant Tuning feature lets you tweak your notification settings on a notification-by-notification basis.


Apple News has a new Browse feature, the Stocks app has been redesigned, iBooks has been overhauled with a new look and a new name -- Apple Books -- and Voice Memos has been revamped with iCloud support and an iPad app. There's also a new Measure app.

ARKit 2.0 introduces new capabilities like shared experiences that let two people see the same AR environment on separate devices, and persistence, which allows AR experiences to be saved across multiple sessions.

Tons of other small tweaks and features have been added to iOS 12, so make sure to check out our roundup and our tidbits post for additional detail on what's new in iOS 12.

Early betas of new operating system updates always introduce tweaked features and new functionality, and everything new in iOS 12 beta 2 can be found in our dedicated what's new in iOS 12 beta 2 post.

iOS 12 is limited to developers at the current time, but Apple will provide a public beta later in June. iOS 12 will see an official release this fall alongside new iPhones.