iOS 18 Beta 8 Review: A Look at the Latest Update
As I discussed last week on Apple Weekly, the 5G Standalone toggle has been enabled by default in iOS 18. However, it appears that this issue still persists, and users are unable to disable it even after updating to the latest version. This is a concerning development, especially considering the potential implications for user experience and device performance.
The phone application also continues to have some notable issues, including the absence of a call button on the recent tab. In previous iOS 18 betas, this feature was present and allowed users to easily make calls without accidentally triggering the camera or other features. However, in beta 8, pressing on someone's name will still result in an attempt to call them, highlighting the need for this functionality to be restored.
In contrast, the control center has been a smooth and solid experience in beta 8. While there have been some issues with the control center throughout the iOS 18 beta cycle, these appear to have been resolved by version 8. However, some users have reported that their pages are no longer visible in this section, which may be a deliberate design choice rather than an intended bug.
One notable feature that has not yet appeared in iOS 18 beta 8 is the standalone Wi-Fi option. This feature has been absent from the control center throughout the beta cycle and remains a mystery as to when it will be implemented.
RCS Support Remains Elusive
As far as RCS (Rich Communication Services) support, there appears to be no progress on this front in iOS 18 beta 8. While multiple carriers are pushing for RCS implementation, Apple's own development seems stalled at this point. This is a disappointment for users and carriers alike, who are eager for the benefits that RCS brings to messaging and communication.
New State ID Features
However, there is some positive news on the Wallet application front. A new feature has been added in beta 8: support for Hawaii's state ID document. Users can now add their driver's license to Apple Wallet and use it at TSA checkpoints and potentially other locations as well. This is a significant development, and with six states already supported, it will be exciting to see the number of supported documents grow.
Release Notes Remain Unchanged
A notable aspect of iOS 18 beta 8 is that the release notes remain identical to those found in beta 7. This suggests that there may not have been any significant changes or improvements made since the last iteration. Users can expect to see additional bug fixes and tweaks in the RC build, which will likely address many of the issues present in beta 8.
Performance Review
For the most part, performance has improved in iOS 18 beta 8. A recent Geekbench test showed impressive scores: 2859 on single core and 7082 on multicore. These results are in line with expectations for an iOS update, and users can look forward to smooth performance when the final version is released.
Battery Life Remains a Priority
Finally, battery life continues to be a concern for some users. While iOS 18 beta 8 appears to have addressed many of the battery drain issues present in earlier betas, there may still be room for improvement. Users who experience significant battery drain should wait for the RC build and potentially the public release to see if Apple has made any adjustments.
Release Schedule: What's Next?
So when can we expect to see iOS 18 RC? Typically, Apple releases the RC version on the day of their major software event. Given that the iPhone 16 event is scheduled for September 9th, it's likely that we'll be seeing the RC build soon after that. As for the public release, Apple usually follows the RC build with a final version roughly a month later. This means that iOS 18 could hit the public market in late September or early October.
The anticipation for the public release is palpable, and users can expect significant changes and improvements over the previous version. With any luck, we'll see additional carriers added to RCS support soon, which would greatly enhance the messaging experience on iPhones. As always, stay tuned for updates and announcements from Apple as we count down to the final release of iOS 18.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat's up guys my name is Brandon and today Apple released iOS 18 beta 8 to register developers and soon to public beta testers now along with this release Apple released the eighth beta for iPad OS 18 watch OS 11 which is not out currently but it will be coming soon Mac OS Sequoia tvos 18 and vision OS 2 and we did also see the third beta for iOS and iPad OS 18.1 and Mac OS AOA 15.1 one but of course in this video we're talking all about iOS 18 beta 8 so you can see the size of this update came in at just 312 megabytes on my 15 Pro Max so a very small size just as expected because we're not expecting any major changes here so let's check out the new build so if we go to our settings General about iOS version the new build number is 22A 5350a so backto back a builds which indicates as expected that we are going to see the RC release next and as far as the modem firmware that is unchanged with beta 8 so it remains at 2.6.6 on the iPhone 15 series all right so now what's new here in iOS 18 beta 8 and the first thing I noticed is inside of the spotlight search and I noticed that we now have dark mode icons in more places so before in iOS 18 beta 7 and also iOS 18.1 beta 3 the latest 18.1 release we do not have this either but here in 18 beta 8 you can see that for suggestions the Safari icon is in dark mode and if we go down to notes you can see the notes icon is dark now in beta 8 same with under websites and also for tips so the tips icon is now dark so you'll see this throughout the spotlight search the dark mode icons are more prevalent now than they have been in beta 7 and previous betas also in the spotlight search if you search for something in settings it now gives you an explanation of what that section in settings is so it shows for the top hit right here it will now say a description underneath so for privacy and security for example you can see before it just didn't say anything it would just show you that section in settings but now it says the privacy and security setting is in the iOS Settings app and then it continues with that and if we tap on go it will take us into that section now speaking of dark icons if your dark icons were reset after updating you can just go ahead into the edit section and go to customize and then just switch it back from light to dark mode and they should go back to all being in dark mode I've noticed that people have had issues with the dark mode icons being reset after updating if you had the recent emojis bug that should be fixed here with beta 8 so for some devices that I had on beta 7 the recent emojis just would not update it wouldn't actually show the emojis that were frequently used it would just stay as the default but now with beta 8 that has been resolved and I didn't even have to use these emojis again they just started showing up properly in the frequently used tab right here and I noticed that we have a new animation when going in and out of playlists on iOS 18.1 beta 3 and I was hoping to see that in iOS 18 beta 8 but we do not have that so that might just be an 18.1 change to the animations I've also noticed that with beta and beta 8 we have this send a check-in pop up inside of messages so this is not a new feature but for some reason it keeps popping up init these latest betas also in these cellular settings if you go to cellular data options and then into voice in data more carriers are starting to see the 5G Standalone toggle so I talked about this last week in apple weekly and I talked about how it was enabled by default and it looks like that has not been fixed it's still enabled by default after updating to the latest version even if you turned it off beforehand so hopefully Apple fixes that for the RC and unfortunately in the phone application the call button is still missing on the recent tab so now if you press on somebody's name right here it will call them so before in previous iOS 18 betas we had the icon over here to the right to you know prevent an accidental call on from the recents tab so unfortunately that has not been added I thought that was a bug but apparently Apple just decided to remove that functionality the control center seems to be very smooth and solid here in beta 8 so we've had several issues with the control center throughout the iOS 18 beta cycle but it seems Rock Solid here in beta 8 however my pages that disappeared previously are not showing up so those just disappeared into the abyss and just never returned which is pretty funny but uh yeah Everything feels fine here in the control center however we still do not have a standalone Wi-Fi option in here and as far as RCS on additional carriers I would not expect iOS 18 beta 8 to add any additional carriers there I think at this point it's really just on your carrier to push out and update and allow for RCS if they don't already have it and speaking of server side we also had an update today in the wallet application if you tap on the plus and go to driver's license or state ID Hawaii was just added so now if you live in Hawaii you can now add your driver's license to Apple wallet and use it at TSA and potentially other places as well so really nice to see that and now we have a total of Six States hopefully that doubles in the next few months because I'm patiently waiting on that in Florida now taking a look at the release notes these are exactly the same as the beta 7 release notes so nothing has been adjusted in beta 8 that was not there in beta 7 so I would expect to see some additional bug fixes and some changes in the release notes for the RC build but there's nothing changed here with beta 8 now as far as the performance goes I did go ahead and run a geekbench test and we scored a 2859 on the single core and a 7082 on the multicore so not bad and performance overall feels great to me I mean beta 7 felt great as well but beta 8 feels very smooth here which is expected when we're about to see the final release of iOS 18 so no complaints there and when it comes to the battery life battery life has also impressed me I mean I've had a much better experience on iOS 18.0 compared to iOS 18.1 so I would expect the battery life to continue to be solid with iOS 18 at beta 8 I don't think we're going to see any type of major improvement from beta 7 but we could see a small bump a minor adjustment with the RC release in a couple of weeks but if you had battery drain issues don't expect those to be fixed here with beta 8 you might have to wait for the RC for that so let's go ahead and talk about it when can we expect to see iOS 18 RC and also the public release so next week will be September and man time flies so I do not think we're going to see an iOS Beta release next week on the week of September 2nd I do think we're going to see the iOS 18 RC after the Apple event so typically Apple releases the RC version of their next major software release on the day of the Apple event usually shortly after it so if that holds true we should be seeing iOS 18 RC on Monday September 9th which is the day of the iPhone 16 event and then after that we could see an additional RC later in the week that's a possibility but we should be seeing the final public release of iOS 18 on or around September 16 Apple typically releases these on Monday so I think the 16th is a good bet and then after after that we should be seeing iOS 18.1 get released in late October I would say maybe the week of October 21st or the week of October 28th but we'll have to wait and see on that that's still over a month away but anyways that is IOS 18 beta 8 I hope you guys enjoyed this video if you did I would appreciate if you gave it a thumbs up also make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on future iOS 18 coverage but anyways guys thanks again for watching and I'll see you soonwhat's up guys my name is Brandon and today Apple released iOS 18 beta 8 to register developers and soon to public beta testers now along with this release Apple released the eighth beta for iPad OS 18 watch OS 11 which is not out currently but it will be coming soon Mac OS Sequoia tvos 18 and vision OS 2 and we did also see the third beta for iOS and iPad OS 18.1 and Mac OS AOA 15.1 one but of course in this video we're talking all about iOS 18 beta 8 so you can see the size of this update came in at just 312 megabytes on my 15 Pro Max so a very small size just as expected because we're not expecting any major changes here so let's check out the new build so if we go to our settings General about iOS version the new build number is 22A 5350a so backto back a builds which indicates as expected that we are going to see the RC release next and as far as the modem firmware that is unchanged with beta 8 so it remains at 2.6.6 on the iPhone 15 series all right so now what's new here in iOS 18 beta 8 and the first thing I noticed is inside of the spotlight search and I noticed that we now have dark mode icons in more places so before in iOS 18 beta 7 and also iOS 18.1 beta 3 the latest 18.1 release we do not have this either but here in 18 beta 8 you can see that for suggestions the Safari icon is in dark mode and if we go down to notes you can see the notes icon is dark now in beta 8 same with under websites and also for tips so the tips icon is now dark so you'll see this throughout the spotlight search the dark mode icons are more prevalent now than they have been in beta 7 and previous betas also in the spotlight search if you search for something in settings it now gives you an explanation of what that section in settings is so it shows for the top hit right here it will now say a description underneath so for privacy and security for example you can see before it just didn't say anything it would just show you that section in settings but now it says the privacy and security setting is in the iOS Settings app and then it continues with that and if we tap on go it will take us into that section now speaking of dark icons if your dark icons were reset after updating you can just go ahead into the edit section and go to customize and then just switch it back from light to dark mode and they should go back to all being in dark mode I've noticed that people have had issues with the dark mode icons being reset after updating if you had the recent emojis bug that should be fixed here with beta 8 so for some devices that I had on beta 7 the recent emojis just would not update it wouldn't actually show the emojis that were frequently used it would just stay as the default but now with beta 8 that has been resolved and I didn't even have to use these emojis again they just started showing up properly in the frequently used tab right here and I noticed that we have a new animation when going in and out of playlists on iOS 18.1 beta 3 and I was hoping to see that in iOS 18 beta 8 but we do not have that so that might just be an 18.1 change to the animations I've also noticed that with beta and beta 8 we have this send a check-in pop up inside of messages so this is not a new feature but for some reason it keeps popping up init these latest betas also in these cellular settings if you go to cellular data options and then into voice in data more carriers are starting to see the 5G Standalone toggle so I talked about this last week in apple weekly and I talked about how it was enabled by default and it looks like that has not been fixed it's still enabled by default after updating to the latest version even if you turned it off beforehand so hopefully Apple fixes that for the RC and unfortunately in the phone application the call button is still missing on the recent tab so now if you press on somebody's name right here it will call them so before in previous iOS 18 betas we had the icon over here to the right to you know prevent an accidental call on from the recents tab so unfortunately that has not been added I thought that was a bug but apparently Apple just decided to remove that functionality the control center seems to be very smooth and solid here in beta 8 so we've had several issues with the control center throughout the iOS 18 beta cycle but it seems Rock Solid here in beta 8 however my pages that disappeared previously are not showing up so those just disappeared into the abyss and just never returned which is pretty funny but uh yeah Everything feels fine here in the control center however we still do not have a standalone Wi-Fi option in here and as far as RCS on additional carriers I would not expect iOS 18 beta 8 to add any additional carriers there I think at this point it's really just on your carrier to push out and update and allow for RCS if they don't already have it and speaking of server side we also had an update today in the wallet application if you tap on the plus and go to driver's license or state ID Hawaii was just added so now if you live in Hawaii you can now add your driver's license to Apple wallet and use it at TSA and potentially other places as well so really nice to see that and now we have a total of Six States hopefully that doubles in the next few months because I'm patiently waiting on that in Florida now taking a look at the release notes these are exactly the same as the beta 7 release notes so nothing has been adjusted in beta 8 that was not there in beta 7 so I would expect to see some additional bug fixes and some changes in the release notes for the RC build but there's nothing changed here with beta 8 now as far as the performance goes I did go ahead and run a geekbench test and we scored a 2859 on the single core and a 7082 on the multicore so not bad and performance overall feels great to me I mean beta 7 felt great as well but beta 8 feels very smooth here which is expected when we're about to see the final release of iOS 18 so no complaints there and when it comes to the battery life battery life has also impressed me I mean I've had a much better experience on iOS 18.0 compared to iOS 18.1 so I would expect the battery life to continue to be solid with iOS 18 at beta 8 I don't think we're going to see any type of major improvement from beta 7 but we could see a small bump a minor adjustment with the RC release in a couple of weeks but if you had battery drain issues don't expect those to be fixed here with beta 8 you might have to wait for the RC for that so let's go ahead and talk about it when can we expect to see iOS 18 RC and also the public release so next week will be September and man time flies so I do not think we're going to see an iOS Beta release next week on the week of September 2nd I do think we're going to see the iOS 18 RC after the Apple event so typically Apple releases the RC version of their next major software release on the day of the Apple event usually shortly after it so if that holds true we should be seeing iOS 18 RC on Monday September 9th which is the day of the iPhone 16 event and then after that we could see an additional RC later in the week that's a possibility but we should be seeing the final public release of iOS 18 on or around September 16 Apple typically releases these on Monday so I think the 16th is a good bet and then after after that we should be seeing iOS 18.1 get released in late October I would say maybe the week of October 21st or the week of October 28th but we'll have to wait and see on that that's still over a month away but anyways that is IOS 18 beta 8 I hope you guys enjoyed this video if you did I would appreciate if you gave it a thumbs up also make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on future iOS 18 coverage but anyways guys thanks again for watching and I'll see you soon\n"
