Earlier this week, Apple released the first beta version of iOS 13.1.At first, everyone thought that something was wrong in Cupertino and it was just a mistake connected with the numbering of updates and everything will be soon restored and they will release a patch that can return everything to its original state. However, a study of the firmware has shown that it is the real beta of iOS 13.1, which received yesterday an assembly for public testing. This was quite unexpected, considering that Apple usually does not test two OS versions at once without a break for release. But everything is logical here.
Apple is short of time
Apple rarely succeeds in testing and releasing all the innovations that were announced at WWDC in September. As a result, iOS version X.0 often contains fewer functions than was announced at the presentation, and the rest comes out as soon as the second and even the third updates are ready. You don’t have to go far for examples. This was the case with group calls in FaceTime, with AirPlay 2 and message synchronization in iMessage a year ago. Therefore, instead of developing part of the functions quietly, the release of iOS 13.1 in Cupertino shows us that they have not forgotten about the promises.
Update complexity
Over time, the Apple operating system is becoming more and more complex, therefore testing it began to take more time. If earlier the company released new versions of iOS after 5-7 beta versions, now they are more than 10, which confirms the above mentioned theory. Hence there is a need to increase the time allotted for testing each new assembly, which happened with iOS 13.1 as well. It is possible that after releasing the new test versions, we will see more and more new features that Cupertino wants to bring to perfection.
Application debugging
You have probably noticed that Apple releases beta versions of its operating systems in two stages. First, assemblies for developers are released and then for those, who participated in the early access program. But if the participants want to test the new functions before the others, which is often the case, the first ones need access to the test versions of the update in order to debug the applications, providing them with full compatibility with the innovations of the update. The beta release of iOS 13.1 before the iOS release just gives developers some more time.
Does this mean that now Apple will not take any breaks for releases at all, but will constantly test fresh beta assemblies? Probably not. In my opinion, iOS 13.1 is an exception due to the potentially large number of innovations, and therefore the company needed as much time as possible to test and debug all the planned functions. On the other hand, nothing prevents Apple from doing the same in the future, trusting each new version of the OS longer to provide us with access to the best and most stable operating system.
