Apple's eighth developer beta for its fall releases drops for testing

Apple has moved on to the eighth round of developer betas for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, tvOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and visionOS 2, as the public release looms around the corner.

The eighth round comes after the seventh, which landed on August 20, while the sixth was brought out on August 12. The fifth round landed on August 5, while the fourth round was issued on July 23, though Apple did roll out a minor update to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 builds on July 26.

The betas in this group are for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, tvOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, along with visionOS 2.

While there have been seven watchOS 11 developer betas so far, it didn't surface as part of the main group for this round. It is possible that a build could be released at a later time.

Apple is currently operating multiple developer beta tracks at the same time. The company is also testing out iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1, primarily for the introduction of Apple Intelligence.

The eighth developer betas of iOS and iPadOS 18 are build number 22A5350a, replacing 22A5346a. Apple's eighth tvOS 18 build number is 22J5356a, up from 22J5353a.

The eighth macOS 15 Sequoia beta is build number 24A5331b, replacing 24A5327a. The eighth visionOS 2.0 developer beta is build 22N5318a, replacing the sixth, 22N5314a.

After the release of the seventh beta, it was reported that the build of iOS 18 that was issued is as feature-complete for the release as possible for all currently available iPhones that will receive the update. It is likely that any subsequent updates will involve bug fixes and performance improvements where current devices are concerned, as well as work to perfect features based on the iPhone 16 generation's hardware.

The sixth beta round had Apple putting the final touches on iOS 18. It did include some refinements to icon tinting, more dark mode interfaces, and a new Bluetooth toggle in Control Center, among others.

The fifth round brought with it Distraction Control, a Safari feature that allows users to remove unwanted elements from a webpage. Changes have also been made to Photos, including the removal of the Carousel view.

AppleInsider's Marko Zivkovic also was first to discover the new Sequoia Sunrise wallpaper in the macOS Sonoma beta.

The fourth iOS 18 beta added a few Control Center changes, more refinement to the flashlight controls, new CarPlay wallpapers, and new background graphical changes.

The third round of developer betas for iOS 18 updated dark mode for icons, updates to the flashlight controls, and hints to a new home device.

Apple included SharePlay upgrades and iPhone Screen Mirroring in the second beta, which Apple confirmed days before issuing.

The confirmation was part of Apple's response to stories that it may abstain from offering Apple Intelligence and other major new operating system features in the European Union, due to Digital Markets Act interoperability mandates.

AppleInsider and Apple strongly recommend that users avoid installing test operating systems or other beta or RC software on "mission-critical" or primary devices, as there is the small chance of issues that could result in the loss of data. Testers should instead use secondary or non-essential hardware and ensure they have sufficient backups of their critical data at all times.

Find any changes in the new builds? Reach out to us on Twitter at @AppleInsider or @Andrew_OSU, or send Andrew an email at andrew@AppleInsider.com.