You can try out the next version of iOS ahead of the crowds by installing the iOS 17 beta on your iPhone. After revealing some exciting new iOS 17 features at WWDC 2023, Apple released the developer beta during the Keynote and announced that the public beta will be available for anyone to try out from July 2023.

We'll show you how to install the iOS 17 beta on your iPhone today, and how to uninstall it if the beta is too buggy for you. These same steps will for the iPadOS 17 beta, too.

A Warning About Beta Software

By its nature, beta software is unfinished. That means it's more likely to be unreliable, with more software bugs than what you're probably used to. Beta software can even cause data loss or excessive battery drain on your iPhone.

If you need your devices to work perfectly—whether for work or family commitments—you shouldn't install beta software on them. Find a spare iPhone to use with the iOS 17 beta instead, and keep your main phone running iOS 16.

That said, we'll show you how to uninstall the iOS 17 beta in case you change your mind after installing it.

Public and Developer iOS Betas

There is a public and developer version of the iOS beta. The main difference between the two is that Apple releases the developer beta a couple of weeks before the public beta, allowing developers to tweak their apps in preparation for a public beta release.

Apple used to require users to pay a $99/year subscription to the Apple Developer Program in order to access the developer beta, but that is no longer the case. Now, anyone with an Apple ID account can try the Apple developer beta for free, which means you don't need to wait until the public beta to install iOS 17.

If you do pay the subscription fee, the Apple Developer Program also comes with access to analytics and testing tools, along with the ability to release apps on the App Store.

Apple Developer Program membership details

How to Install the iOS 17 Beta From Your iPhone Settings

The iOS 17 beta is easy to install on your iPhone; you just need to enable the Beta Updates option in your iPhone settings. But before you do so, we highly recommend you create an archived backup of your phone to protect your data. The entire process takes a couple of hours, depending on how much data is on your iPhone and how fast your internet connection is.

Make sure your iPhone is fully charged and you have plenty of time before getting started.

Step 1. Archive a Backup of Your iPhone

Every time you back up your iPhone, it erases your existing backup to create the new one. Any backups you make using the iOS 17 beta might not work if you revert to iOS 16 again. To protect your data, you should archive an iOS 16 backup first, so you can still use it if you uninstall the iOS 17 public beta in the future.

When you archive a backup, it means your iPhone won't delete it during future backups. If you don't create an archived backup using iOS 16, you may lose all the data from your iPhone if the iOS 17 beta doesn't work properly.

You'll need to use a computer to create an archived backup:

  1. Connect your iPhone to the computer using a USB cable.
  2. Open Finder or iTunes on your computer and select your iPhone from the Locations section of the sidebar. If prompted, unlock your iPhone and agree to Trust this computer.
  3. Go to the General tab in Finder or the Summary tab in iTunes and select the option to Back up all the data on your iPhone to this Mac. Make sure you don't pick the option that only backs up the most important data. If you want to save passwords and sensitive data as well, enable the Encrypt local backup option and create a memorable password.
  4. Click Back Up Now and wait for the backup to complete.
  5. When the backup finishes, click Manage Backups, then Control-click the backup you just made and select Archive. A padlock should appear next to your backup to show that it's archived.
  6. You can now eject your iPhone.
Archiving an iPhone backup in Finder

Step 2. Enable Beta Updates in Your iPhone Software Update Settings

Apple used to make you download a special profile for your iPhone to get access to beta software, but now you can simply select the iOS 17 beta from the Settings. After doing so, you just download and install the beta software like you would any other update. Here's where to find it:

  1. On your iPhone, go to Settings > General > Software Update.
  2. Wait for your phone to finish checking for updates. Then tap Beta Updates, which should appear beneath Automatic Updates.
  3. Here, you'll see a list of all the available beta updates right now. Select iOS 17 Developer Beta (or iOS 17 Public Beta if it has released when you're reading this). If prompted, you may need to sign in to your Apple ID.
  4. Now tap Download and Install to get iOS 17 on your iPhone. If you don't have enough space, just tap Storage to clear out some apps and media. Depending on your internet connection, it could take a couple of hours for your iPhone to download and install the update.

Since iOS 17 is a relatively minor update, you might not notice much difference at first. But you can confirm you're running the beta by testing out the best new features in iOS 17, which wouldn't have been available to you before. To get the full experience, you should learn how to install the iOS 17 developer beta on all your Apple devices.

How to Uninstall the iOS 17 Beta From Your iPhone

You may not want to keep the iOS 17 beta software installed on your iPhone if it's too buggy or unreliable. After all, many third-party apps still need to release updates to run perfectly on the new software, plus Apple is still working to fix its own software bugs.

If you want to uninstall the iOS 17 beta from your iPhone, you have two possible options. The first one is easier, but you need to wait for Apple to release the final version of iOS 17 for it to work.

Option 1. Turn Off Beta Updates in Your iPhone Settings

The easiest way to uninstall the iOS 17 beta from your iPhone is to disable beta updates from your settings. After you do this, your iPhone will stop looking for iOS 17 beta software to install and will install the next official iOS 17 update Apple releases instead.

The official iOS 17 release isn't scheduled until Fall 2023, so if that's still a long time from now, you should jump straight to the next option. However, if iOS 17 has already come out, you'll probably only need to wait a week or two for the next update.

To turn off iOS 17 beta updates on your iPhone:

  1. Go to Settings > General > Software Update.
  2. Tap Beta Updates and choose to turn it Off.
  3. Now go Back and check for new updates.
  4. Keep checking back here to Download and Install the next available update.
5. Beta Updates Off option on iPhone

Option 2. Erase Your iPhone Using Recovery Mode

If you want to uninstall the iOS 17 beta immediately without waiting for Apple to release a new software update, your only option is to erase your iPhone using Recovery Mode.

Erasing your iPhone deletes all the content from it: photos, messages, apps, and more. If you followed all the steps above, you should be able to restore an archived backup after erasing your iPhone to recover your lost data. Unfortunately, this backup won't contain any data you added to your iPhone after creating the backup. The only way to keep that data is to follow the first uninstall option above.

The steps to enter Recovery Mode vary depending on your particular iPhone, but they all involve connecting your iPhone to a computer running a recent version of macOS or iTunes. Follow our instructions to enter Recovery Mode on your iPhone. For most modern iPhones, just connect your iPhone to the computer using a USB cable, then press Volume Up, then Volume Down, then press and hold the Side button. Keep holding the Side button until a computer icon appears onscreen.

After entering Recovery Mode, choose to Restore your iPhone when prompted in Finder or iTunes. Then select Restore and Update and follow the prompts to erase your device and reinstall the latest non-beta version of iOS. Once the process is complete, choose to restore the archived backup you made earlier.

Restore option in Finder for iPhone

If your computer refuses to download iOS 16, which kept happening to me, follow our guide to downgrade iOS using an IPSW file instead.

The Best iPhone Features Are Already Here

There are some exciting features coming to the iPhone with iOS 17, but they mostly offer minor upgrades. All the best iPhone features are here already, and there are plenty of great iPhone features in iOS 16 that most people aren't aware of. You might not need to install the iOS 17 beta if all you want is a few new features to play with.