Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS 17.6 and iPadOS 17.6 to Developers

Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 17.6 and iPadOS 17.6 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a few weeks after the launch of iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5.

iOS 17
Registered developers are able to opt into the betas by opening up the Settings app, going to the Software Update section, tapping on the "Beta Updates" option, and toggling on the iOS 17 or iPadOS 17 Developer Beta. An Apple ID associated with a developer account is required to download and install the beta.

The features Apple promised for iOS 17 have all been implemented, so it is not clear what will be included in iOS 17.6. It is expected to be one of the final feature updates to iOS 17, as Apple will soon transition most of its focus to iOS 18.

Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

Popular Stories

Apple Logo Zoomed

Tim Cook Teases Plans for Apple's Upcoming 50th Anniversary

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026. "I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April. Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far. iOS 26.3 iPhone to Android Transfer Tool iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
imac video apple feature

Apple Makes Its Second-Biggest Acquisition Ever

Tuesday February 3, 2026 12:45 pm PST by
Apple recently acquired Israeli startup Q.ai for close to $2 billion, according to Financial Times sources. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone maker Beats in 2014. This is also the largest known Apple acquisition since the company purchased Intel's smartphone modem business and patents for $1 billion in 2019....
wwdc sans text feature

Apple Rumored to Announce New Product on February 19

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld. Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Finder Siri Feature

Why Apple's iOS 26.4 Siri Upgrade Will Be Bigger Than Originally Promised

Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do. The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up. Upgraded Architecture The next-generation...

Top Rated Comments

jz0309 Avatar
22 months ago
Hopefully the focus is on bug fixes and security updates
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iLuddite Avatar
22 months ago

Maybe...

I won't personally touch betas, pubic or developer. Did enough of that back in the earlier iOS days.
I wouldn’t touch a pubic beta, either ;)
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FridgeToaster Avatar
22 months ago
Everybody: iOS nowadays is so buggy, it's basically unusable.
Also everybody in June: Let's install Developer Beta 1.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
22 months ago

How has iOS 18 been bug-wise? I know it's an early beta but I'm curious how solid it is this early on, especially given all the AI stuff Apple has littered across the system (but presumably not enabled yet.)
It's very usable, it just that the way you do things that are common place is now shifted around. Take for instance received calls. Clicking on the text of the caller doesn't initiate a call, only if you click on the phone icon on the far right. Clicking on the text opens the contact form with the ability to block or unblock calls from that party. In that manner it's like a bit of relearning is required with some features you use all the time. It not like a lot of the features they showed off have arrived yet which is typical that early in its cycle. At some point in the future most will have to learn all about how to use this rather then its becomes too featured all at once in Sept. :D
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FineWoven Avatar
22 months ago

Meanwhile, many here likely already have iOS 18…
Haha those are some brave souls! Even though I can get the dev betas if I wanted to, I always wait for the public versions when they come out a month later. Much more likely to be stable. And even then I just start with my iPad and if all is well for a week or so then I’ll move to installing it on my iPhone. My Mac however, I always wait until the full release has been out a little while in the fall since that is vital to me as a work machine and I can’t risk anything I rely on being rendered useless as a result of Apple’s rushed testing process.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adrianlondon Avatar
22 months ago

Everybody: iOS nowadays is so buggy, it's basically unusable.
Also everybody in June: Let's install Developer Beta 1.
Well, the choice is "old stuff and buggy" vs "new stuff and buggy".

New stuff is always exciting, so dev beta it is!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)