Apple has today released the seventh version of its iOS 5 beta to developers. The new version offers some stability improvements and bug fixes and is the fourth version of Apple’s beta software to be delivered over-the-air to devices, a new feature that Apple touted at WWDC as part of its new ‘post-pc’ strategy.
In total, Apple has released several updates, including iOS 5 Beta 7, Xcode 4.2 b7, iTunes 10.5 b7, Safari 5.1.1 and Apple TV b6 to developers today. As with beta 6, you can install iOS 5 beta 7 using over the air software update.
If you’re performing an over-the-air update from your device, you should be just fine, but you should remove your passcode previous to performing the update. If you do not, iMessage may be turned off after the update completes. If you are going to restore an iPhone 3GS or iPod touch 3g from Beta 6 to Beta 7 using iTunes, you will have to set the device to DFU mode, OTA updates work fine.
When trying to restore an iPhone 3GS or iPod touch 3rd generation device running Beta 6 to Beta 7 using iTunes, you will have to set the device into DFU or you can OTA update to Beta 7. If you have a passcode set, it must be removed before updating to seed 7 from previous seeds. It can be re-enabled after the update is complete. Failure to do so may require iMessage to be re-enabled in settings.
The iOS 5 beta is available for download now on your device but as well as the Apple Developer site. Note that Apple requires that you have a developer account and a device registered on the site in order to download and install iOS 5.
iOS 5 is the next major revision to Apple’s software for iPhone, iPod, Apple TV and iPad devices. The new OS is slated for release in the fall of this year. You can see our complete rundown of the iOS announcements at WWDC here. We’ve also got a closer look at some of the features of iOS like iMessages, Twitter, Setup and Notification Center, iCloud and alerts.
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