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Apple to Offer Public Beta of Mobile Operating System

Public beta gives Apple a chance to work the kinks out of its software ahead of general release.

by Dawn Chmielewski
Apple

Apple plans to release the latest update to its mobile operating system as a public beta through its AppleSeed program, which allows customers to test pre-release software.

The release, due in mid-March, follows the approach Apple took with its OS X Yosemite desktop software last year. One million people got an early look at the operating system before its general release.

This approach gives Apple the chance to work the kinks out of its software before it’s made available to millions of users. The iOS 8 debut last year was marred with a glitch in a software update that briefly disconnected thousands of iPhones from mobile networks.

Apple’s veteran product marketing executive Greg “Joz” Joswiak explained the problem at the Code/Mobile conference, but brushed off questions about whether Apple has a larger issue with quality assurance.

9to5Mac was the first to report the public beta for iOS 8.3, which was independently confirmed through sources.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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