News: iOS 12 Beta 8 Released to Apple Developers

Apple developers, check your iPhones — Apple released the eighth developer beta for iOS 12 on Wednesday, August 15. This update arrives just two days after the release of dev beta 7, which Apple quickly pulled after complaints of unusual performance and stability issues.

While it would make sense for dev beta 8 to be identical to dev beta 7, there is one noticeable change that fixes the issues users were having with dev beta 7 which resulted in it being pulled. Apple's release notes state that an issue where apps would take longer to launch than normal has been fixed.

Aside from that, there doesn't seem to be anything exciting with dev beta 8, but we'll keep you updated if we find anything. Until then, check out the resolved and known issues from the release notes after the screenshots below.

• Update: iOS 12 Beta 9 for iPhone Released to Apple Developers

To update your iPhone to access iOS 12 dev beta 8, you first need to be a registered developer with a valid configuration profile. If you have iOS 12's new "Automatic Updates" enabled, you can let the software update overnight. To download the beta right now, however, launch the Settings app, select "General," then "Software Update." Tap "Download and Install," then follow the on-screen prompts to download and install iOS 12 dev beta 8.

Resolved Issues

Here are all of the issues fixed with dev beta 8:

General:

• Apps could take longer than expected to launch. (43122782)

Accessibility:

• Settings might unexpectedly quit when attempting to view or select a voice in Speech settings. (42859905)

HomeKit:

• Apple TV (3rd generation) might not function as a HomeKit hub in beta 6. Apple TV (4th generation) and Apple TV 4K might not appear as a HomeKit hub unless setup was completed using an iOS device. (42782193) — Workaround: Add Apple TV to the home via Settings > AirPlay > Room.

Siri:

• When running a NSUserActivity-based shortcut, Siri might not automatically open the app and instead display an Open button which can be used to open the app. (42773201)
• Settings might unexpectedly quit when attempting to open Siri & Search settings if you have uninstalled FaceTime, Mail, Maps, or Voice Memos. (42789893) — Workaround: Install the missing apps.
• While using CarPlay, Shortcuts which require confirmation might not work. (42444240)
• In Swift, the shortcut property of INVoiceShortcut must be accessed as _shortcut. (40418400)

Known Issues

The following includes a list of all issues present in dev beta 8. New issues are listed in bold:

App Store:

• While signed in with a production account and testing with a sandbox account, attempting to fetch a new valid receipt displays a sign-in prompt for the production account with no option for switching to the sandbox account. (42862150) — Workaround: For testing purposes, StoreKit calls such as making a purchase and restoring transactions will fetch a new receipt. Alternatively, sign out of the production account

CoreGraphics:

• Various CoreGraphics calls have been hardened against continuing with invalid parameters. In iOS 12 beta, these calls may now return NULL or return early. (38344690)

HomeKit:

• Inviting iOS 11 users who have multiple email addresses associated with their Apple ID to a home might not succeed. (41033550) — Workaround: Send the invitation to a different email address or phone number associated with the Apple ID of the iOS 11 user.

Localization:

• Certain languages may exhibit clipped or misaligned layout. (40420329)
• Certain languages may display unlocalized text. (40420422)

MediaPlayer Framework:

• When a queueTransaction is performed on applicationQueuePlayer to modify the position of a song, the queue returns unchanged. (39401344)

Phone and FaceTime:

• Group FaceTime has been removed from the initial release of iOS 12 and will ship in a future software update later this fall.
• In iOS 12 beta, Camera Effects in Messages is available only on iPhone SE and iPhone 6s or later and is unavailable on iPad. Camera Effects in FaceTime is available only on iPhone 7 or later and is unavailable on iPad.
• Wi-Fi calls might end unexpectedly when transitioning from Wi-Fi to cellular while on the T-Mobile network. (39251828)

Screen Time:

• After updating to iOS 12 beta 7, parents should change the Screen Time passcode to prevent children from signing out of iCloud or changing the system time. (42879250)
• "Picked Up Phone" statistics might be inflated due to data syncing from other devices signed into the same iCloud account. (39917173)

Siri:

• While multiple ride-sharing apps are installed, Siri might open the app instead of providing an ETA or location when asked. (42324032) — Workaround: Ask Siri for the ETA or location again.
• Siri Shortcuts might not work if a device is locked. (41307405)
• Siri Suggestions for Shortcuts are enabled on iPhone 6s or later, iPad Pro, iPad (5th generation or later), iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 4. (40669231)

UIKit:

• YoumightencounterissueswithsystemLayoutSizeFitting(_:)whenusinga UICollectionViewCell subclass that requires updateConstraints(). (42138227)

Workaround: Don't call the cell's setNeedsUpdateConstraints() method unless you need to support live constraint changes. If you need to support live constraint changes, call updateConstraintsIfNeeded() before calling systemLayoutSizeFitting(_:).

Wallet & Apple Pay:

• Users might encounter a situation where Apple Pay becomes unavailable. (31989675) — Workaround: Try opening Wallet and using the card again. If the issue persists, restart the device and try again.

Xcode:

• When using Messages in the iOS Simulator, a message might not be delivered from User A to User B. (40916530) — Workaround: Send a message from User B to User A.

Other than its performance issues, dev beta 7 made a splash on Monday with its news that group FaceTime would not ship with the official version of iOS 12 next month. Apple will include the feature as part of a future update later this fall, adding group FaceTime to the list of recent iOS features delayed long past their expected release dates.

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