Connect with us

Technologies

iOS 17 Beta 3 for Developers Is Out Right Now for the iPhone

The third developer beta for iOS 17 is available for download.

iOS 17 beta 3 is now available for developers. Apple is letting anyone with a compatible phone install the iOS 17 developer beta for free.

The company first announced iOS 17 at WWDC in June. Shortly after the keynote event, Apple released the first developer beta version of iOS 17. Typically, you have to pay $99 to officially download and install any Apple developer beta software, but this year the company is letting anyone get a crack at iOS 17 — as long as they join the Apple Developer Program.

Read more: Apple Unveils iOS 17 for the iPhone at WWDC 2023

iOS 17 emphasizes communication, with several new features for the Phone, FaceTime and Messages applications, including personalized contact posters, video messages, a more intelligent autocorrect, improved AirDrop options and the Journal app.

CNET Tech Tips logo

Before you go on and install iOS 17, you should know that developer beta versions like this aren’t intended for general use, especially because they may have unfinished features and issues that can make the iPhone difficult to use. These early beta releases are, instead, for developers, to help them keep their apps up to date and get early access to the upcoming features.

In short, you probably shouldn’t install the developer beta on your primary iPhone. If you really want to get iOS 17 right now, try to find a spare iPhone that is new enough (iPhone XS or later) to work with the latest software.

Read more: iOS 17 Is Coming This Year. Will It Work on Your iPhone?

For folks who still want to dive in, we’ll show you how to install the iOS 17 developer version on your iPhone, as well as what to do in case you want to revert to iOS 16.

Want to learn more about the stuff unveiled at WWDC? Here’s what you need to know about Vision Pro, Apple’s new augmented reality headset. And here’s all the dope on the new 15-inch MacBook Air and MacOS Sonoma.

What to know before you download the iOS 17 developer beta

Because the iOS 17 developer beta is an early prerelease version, the software could have bugs and other issues.

Again, if you’re thinking about downloading iOS 17, do it on a backup or secondary phone, if available. The iOS 17 developer beta’s issues could cripple your iPhone and make it difficult to use, disabling phone calls or text messages or making it extremely laggy. However, if you only have your main phone or tablet available, make sure to back up your iPhone on iOS 16.5 (the latest version of iOS 16) before updating to iOS 17. That way you have the option to return to iOS 16 if there are too many issues on the new OS.

Also, you must have an iPhone XS or later to run iOS 17. iOS 17 is not supported on the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X, all of which supported the iOS 16 developer beta last year.

And most importantly, to download the iOS 17 developer beta, you must be enrolled in the Apple Developer Program. The full membership is $99 a year, but as mentioned above, Apple is now offering a free membership option, with limited tools and resources, that allows pretty much anyone to download and install the iOS 17 developer beta for free.

You can also wait to join the Apple Beta Software program next month, which will provide a more stable iOS 17 upgrade than the developer version.

iPhone XS

How to enroll in the Apple Developer Program, for free

If you’re only interested in testing out the iOS 17 developer beta for fun, you don’t need to pay for an Apple Developer Program membership. You can easily use your existing Apple ID to sign up for the developer program and download developer software onto your iPhone.

1. Go to Apple’s Developer website, tap the three-dash menu in the top-right and hit Account.

2. Sign in with your existing Apple ID.

3. Read through the Apple Developer Agreement, check the boxes at the bottom and then hit Submit.

You now have a free Apple Developer Program account. You can skip the next step to download and install the iOS 17 developer beta on your iPhone. 

creating a free Apple Developer Program account for iOS 17

How to enroll in the paid Apple Developer Program

If you’re a developer, and want full access to development tools and the ability to distribute apps on the App Store, then you’ll want to pay for the Apple Developer Program. On your iPhone, here’s how you can enroll:

1. Download the Apple Developer app from the App Store, launch the app, go to Account and tap Enroll Now.

2. Sign in with your Apple ID credentials, read through the various benefits and instructions, enter your personal information and scan your ID to verify your identity.

3. Once this information is submitted, you must choose your entity (individual for most people) and agree to the program license agreement.

4. Finally, pay the Apple Developer membership fee (with Apple Pay), which is $99 (about £80 or AU$140) a year.

After you successfully make the payment, you’ll be redirected to your Account page in the Apple Developer app. Here you can verify that you’re now enrolled, and you can also check out the date of your membership’s expiration next year.

Signing up for Apple Developer Program

You can install iOS 17 with an over-the-air update on your iPhone

The easiest way to download the iOS 17 developer beta is with an over-the-air update — the way you would update to any other new software release on your device. Once you’re a member of the Apple Developer Program, free or paid, you’ll automatically have the option to install iOS 17 from your settings. Here’s how:

1. On your iPhone or iPad, go to the Settings > General > Software Update.

2. Next, go into Beta Updates and tap iOS 17 Developer Beta.

3. Go back and tap Download and Install under the new «iOS 17 Developer Beta option» that appears.

You’ll need to then enter your passcode, agree to the terms and conditions and wait for the update to be installed. The process can take over 20 minutes, depending on your internet connection. Once your phone reboots, you should have access to the iOS 17 developer beta.

iOS 17 developer beta install page on iPhone

Or download the iOS 17 developer beta using your Mac

Over-the-air updates require a certain amount of storage, and if you don’t have that available, your computer is really the only way to update to iOS 17 beta without manually clearing out space.

1. On your Mac, go to the Apple Developer Program download page, find «iOS 17 beta,» click Download Restore Images and download the iOS beta software restore image for your specific device.

2. Connect your device to your computer and enter your device passcode or hit Trust This Computer if prompted.

3. Next, open Finder, click your device in the sidebar under Locations.

4. Hold down the Option key, click Check for Update and choose the iOS 17 beta software restore image you just downloaded from the Apple Developer page.

The iOS 17 beta software will install on your device. Wait for a few minutes and when your phone reboots, you should have access.

iOS 17 download profile on Mac

While you’re here, check out the best iPhone model you can get in 2023. And if you’re looking for a new computer, check out these laptops you might be interested in.

Technologies

Uber Adds Rental Car Delivery and Discounted Airport Rides Before July 4 Weekend Surge

Look for new airport pickup options and more flexibility for hotel food deliveries.

With AAA forecasting that a record-breaking 72 million Americans will travel during the week of July 4, ride-hailing and delivery company Uber is launching various updates to make summer vacations more seamless. Uber is significantly expanding its rental-car delivery service, introducing new airport options for ride-sharing and prescheduled pickups, and adding more flexibility for hotel food deliveries. 

Read also: Uber’s Simplified App for Seniors Is Launching Nationwide

Car rental dropoff expands

One of the biggest updates is the expansion of Uber Rent — the service’s car-rental department — by adding car delivery, which allows users to have a rental car dropped off at their home, office or hotel. This summer, the service is rolling out to 15 additional US cities, including Dallas, Phoenix, Charlotte and Las Vegas, bringing the total to 24 cities nationwide.

Travelers can book a rental car as little as 2 hours in advance or up to six months ahead. Uber also notes that there’s no fee to cancel, as long as it’s at least 2 hours before the scheduled drop-off.

More affordable airport rides

Uber is also expanding Uber Share at Airports, a carpool-style option where travelers heading to or from the airport can share a ride with one other passenger and save up to 25% compared to a standard UberX, which is the regular Uber tier. Even if no match is found, riders still pay the discounted rate.

This feature is now available at more than 40 additional airports, including Chicago Midway, Nashville, Washington Reagan, and international cities like Paris, Lisbon and Stockholm.

Enhanced hotel food delivery

The company is adding new delivery options for travelers relying on Uber Eats while staying at hotels. Users can now select how they want their food dropped off: meeting the courier in the lobby, having the food left at the front desk or requesting direct delivery to their hotel room doorway.

Travelers staying at Marriott properties can also now earn Marriott Bonvoy points on Uber Eats orders, provided their loyalty account is linked in the app.

More airport pickup options in the suburbs

Uber is also expanding its Reserve Airport Pickup feature to 70 more airports in the US and Canada, with a focus on smaller towns and suburban destinations such as Reno, Green Bay and Sarasota. Reserve rides can be scheduled in advance, a convenience for travelers flying into areas with fewer transit options.

These updates are arriving just in time for one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. Additional changes are listed in the Uber Newsroom post

Continue Reading

Technologies

Microsoft Layoffs Are Here and These 3 Games Have Already Been Canceled

Microsoft is cutting more than 9,000 jobs — 4% of its global workforce — and as a result, Everwild and the Perfect Dark reboot have been put out to pasture.

Microsoft is moving ahead with mass layoffs, cutting a little less than 4% of its workforce or about 9,000 roles across the company. As a result, multiple games brewing within Xbox Game Studios were canceled, including some fairly high-profile projects.

When reached for comment, Microsoft directed CNET to reports Wednesday by Variety, confirming their accuracy.

«To position Gaming for enduring success and allow us to focus on strategic growth areas, we will end or decrease work in certain areas of the business and follow Microsoft’s lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness,» Microsoft Gaming chief Phil Spencer wrote in a staff memo Wednesday morning, as published by Variety.

Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty confirmed the game cancellations in an internal email published by Variety, naming Perfect Dark and Everwild specifically, as well as other «unannounced» titles.

«We have made the decision to stop development of Perfect Dark and Everwild as well as wind down several unannounced projects across our portfolio,» Booty wrote in the email. «As part of this, we are closing one of our studios, The Initiative.»

Booty added that the decisions to axe these games «reflect a broader effort to adjust priorities and focus resources to set up our teams for greater success within a changing industry landscape. We did not make these choices lightly, as each project and team represent years of effort, imagination and commitment.»

What Xbox games have been canceled?

Perhaps the most significant title canceled amid these new layoffs was a reboot of the classic FPS series, Perfect Dark. The studio that had been working on this new title, The Initiative, will be shut down entirely. 

The long-awaited new entry in the sci-fi espionage series has been in the works since the studio opened in 2018 and first showed off gameplay footage for the title during an Xbox Games Showcase in June 2024.

Another notable title getting the axe is Everwild, a long-gestating new IP from Rare, the revered British studio Sea of Thieves, which Microsoft acquired in 2002. Over the decades, the studio has also produced the original Donkey King Country games for the SNES, the original Perfect Dark for the Nintendo 64, Conker’s Bad Fur Day and the Banjo-Kazooie series.

According to unnamed sources who spoke to Video Games Chronicle, numerous job cuts and a broader restructuring are expected at Rare, resulting in the game’s cancellation. The sources also confirmed reports over the years about Everwild’s somewhat turbulent development, claiming that it had «struggled to nail down a clear direction for the title.» 

The game has reportedly been in development for the better part of a decade, being officially announced in 2019, followed by a trailer in 2020. In 2021, reports emerged that development on the game had been «rebooted.»

The other title reportedly put out to pasture was an untitled new MMORPG from Zenimax Online Studios, the creator of the popular MMO Elder Scrolls Online, which has reportedly reached upward of 25 million players since launching in 2014. 

Details about what this title was are sparse, with Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reporting that the game went by the codename «Blackbird» and had been in the works since 2018. Windows Central said in its report about Perfect Dark’s cancellation that Blackbird was once intended to act as a successor of sorts to Elder Scrolls Online.

David Lumb, a senior reporter at CNET, noted how these new developments at Microsoft underscored the recent job instability in the gaming industry, as well as the uncertainty the cancellations are sure to cause among gamers.

«The biggest losses are to the seemingly thousands of people who are out of a job in a tumultuous industry that’s seen record layoffs year over year,» Lumb explained, adding, «The cancellations of big games like the upcoming Perfect Dark and Rare’s next game Everwild are concerning for Microsoft’s next few years of releases, but also to confidence that a game being teased at, say, an Xbox Showcase will end up coming out.»

According to Variety, all games that were shown off during the 2025 Xbox Games Showcase in June will continue being developed.

Continue Reading

Technologies

Razer Handheld Dock Chroma Follows Its Accessories’ Formula: High Quality With a Higher Price

Review: The Razer Handheld Dock Chroma is great for traveling with your gaming handheld, but it’s not the only option.

The Handheld Dock Chroma from Razer is a compact stand and dock for portable gaming consoles and tablets, offering charging and an interface to send your games to a bigger screen. As the name suggests, it includes RGB lighting that’s part of Razer’s Chroma ecosystem. It was announced at CES in January, and it recently started shipping. Is it any good? Well, largely yes, with some important caveats.

What I like about the Razer Handheld Dock Chroma

The Razer Handheld Chroma Dock is well built. It follows the company’s signature trend of delivering high-quality accessories that look great and are reliably durable. The metal build quality is a nice touch against all the other plastic, cheap-feeling options out there. It’s also fairly small, making it easy to drop in a bag as you head out. That’s kind of the point, as Razer designed this dock to be portable, fitting in nicely with the whole idea of handheld gaming in the first place.

One big difference of the Dock Chroma, compared to other docks and which also plays well into the portability aspect, is that the stand to hold the handheld is adjustable. It will lie flat, covering the mounting deck entirely and turning the whole thing into a little cube. Or you can adjust it as steep as 75 degrees to find the perfect viewing angle while gaming.

As the Chroma name suggests, there’s an RBG light strip on the front that syncs up with your Chroma settings. If you aren’t using a device that supports Chroma, there’s a button on the right side you can use to cycle between some preset lighting scenes.  

What I don’t like about the Razer Handheld Dock Chroma

The first odd design choice almost flies in the face of the whole portable idea: There’s a USB-C cable sticking out of the back. This is what you connect to your handheld but oddly it can’t be detached or even folded into the dock itself. So it’s a bit clunky from a portability standpoint.

Then there’s the port selection. There’s a 100-watt USB-C port, three USB-A Gen 1 ports, a gigabit Ethernet port and an HDMI 2.0 port. That’s not a terrible port selection for a docking station, but the lack of a second USB-C, DisplayPort or a 3.5mm headphone port is rather disappointing. 

Performance

For something that’s essentially a docking station for handheld gaming rigs, the Chroma Dock works well. I hooked it up to a ROG Ally and had no issues at all. It was cool to be able to drop the Ally onto the dock, Switch-style, and instantly have my games up on my monitor and TV. The plethora of ports navigating Windows 11 on the Ally makes it so much easier by letting me use a keyboard and mouse with it.

The Chroma Dock works with any device that supports USB-C, including the Nintendo Switch. Just be aware that it’s kinda awkward with the Switch because you have to set it upside down for it to work, and you’ll need to use the original Nintendo charger that came with it. You’ll also need to provide your own charger for any device you use as Razer doesn’t include one in the box. But for the Switch specifically, you’ll need the Nintendo one.

Technically, you could mount any USB-C device onto the dock, including a tablet or phone, to have an all-in-one sort of situation. If you’re on the go a lot, this might be a game-changer in more ways than one.

Should you get the Razer Handheld Dock Chroma?

If you’re ready to pay the Razer premium, then perhaps. The Chroma Dock will set you back $80, which is more than double the price of most other similar docks. That’s a lot to ask for something like this. But if you want that Razer brand and you have other Chroma lighting gear, it’s well-built, if lacking in some features.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © Verum World Media