iOS 12 beta testers have been plagued with a frustrating bug that continually pops up messages alerting them that a new iOS update is available when, in fact, it’s not. Apple has now fixed this bug, which is patched in the latest iOS 12 betas rolling out now, we understand. The bug first made headlines on Thursday, when a number of iOS 12 beta testers – including developers and those on the public beta program – began to complain on social media about the problem. All users were seeing a pop-up message that read, “A new iOS version is now available. Please update from the iOS 12 beta.” Users could close this window with a tap, but the same pop-up would reappear at regular intervals. There was nothing to be done about it, because the message itself was wrong – there was no new beta available for download at the time. A new iOS update is now available. Please update from the iOS 12 beta. A new iOS update is now available. Please update from the iOS 12 beta. A new iOS update is now available. Please update from the iOS 12 beta. A new iOS update is now availab — Nick Abouzeid (@nickabouzeid) August 31, 2018 All of my devices: “A new iOS update is now available. Please update” Narrator: “A new version, in fact, was not available.” — Ish (@ishabazz) August 31, 2018 While it’s true that beta versions of software can have glitches and bugs, the iOS 12 beta has been, arguably, one of the most stable to date. For many people, the bug was one of the first times they had a serious issue with running the beta software. Some had figured out yesterday that you could adjust the system date and time to turn off the non-stop notifications, but this was bad advice. Messing around with the system clock can introduce a host of other issues, like missing calendar appointments or reminders, for example. Apple was aware of the issue, and has thankfully introduced a fix before the long holiday weekend here in the U.S. The fix is available in both the new developer beta and the public beta, out now.<doc-sep>Apple today seeded the twelfth beta of an upcoming iOS 12 update to developers for testing purposes, just four days after seeding the eleventh beta and more than two months after introducing the new software at the Worldwide Developers Conference. Registered developers can download the new iOS 12 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air after installing the proper certificate, while public beta members should also be seeing the update as their tenth beta version of iOS 12. Based on the short interval and the odd time of day of the release, the update is almost certainly an emergency bug fix for the update alert bug that began popping up in earnest yesterday. Users were being prompted to update to a "new iOS update" every time they unlocked their phone or dismissed Notification Center. play iOS 12 brings several major new features, with Apple revamping the operating system from top to bottom to make iPhones and iPads, especially the older models, faster and more responsive. On the iPhone X, there are new Animoji characters along with "Memoji," which are customizable, personalized, humanoid Animoji that can be used both in Messages and in FaceTime, and there are new camera effects in both of those apps. Apple originally planned to introduce Group FaceTime support in iOS 12, but the feature was removed in iOS 12 beta 7 and will not be reintroduced until later this fall in a future update to iOS 12. Siri is smarter in iOS 12 with a new Shortcuts feature that lets you create multi-step customized automations using first and third-party apps that can be activated with Siri voice commands. Shortcuts can be created through the Shortcuts app, available as a beta from Apple's Developer Center. Apple built comprehensive time management and monitoring tools into iOS 12 with Screen Time, allowing you to keep track of how much time you're spending in apps on your iPhone and iPad. App limits can help you cut back on iOS device usage, and robust parental controls are included for families. Updated Do Not Disturb options make activating Do Not Disturb more intuitive and simple, and a new Do Not Disturb at Bedtime feature cuts down on nighttime distractions and sleep interruptions. Grouped Notifications make incoming notifications easier to view and manage, while a new Instant Tuning feature lets you tweak your notification settings right on the Lock screen on a notification-by-notification basis. play Apple News has a new Browse feature, the Stocks app has been redesigned and brought to the iPad, iBooks has been overhauled with a new look and a new name -- Apple Books -- and Voice Memos has been revamped with iCloud support and an iPad app. ARKit 2.0 introduces new capabilities like shared experiences that let two people see the same AR environment on separate devices, and persistence, which allows AR experiences to be saved across multiple sessions. There's also a new Apple-built Measure app for measuring objects using AR capabilities. iOS 12 includes a revamped and rebuilt Maps app that uses a new Apple-designed Maps engine that will display foliage, pools, buildings, pedestrian pathways, and other map elements more accurately. The new Maps also includes significant improvements to traffic, real-time road conditions, construction, and more, plus it will enable Apple to push out changes and fixes more quickly. The updated Maps app is available in the Northern California area during beta testing. After iOS 12 launches, Apple will continue rolling out the new maps to additional U.S. locations New betas of upcoming operating system updates always introduce tweaked features and new functionality, and we'll be outlining what's new in the seventh beta below. We also rounded up all of the changes that were introduced in the previous betas: beta 2 and beta 3, beta 4, beta 5, beta 6, and beta 7. Later betas have had fewer changes because we're approaching the end of the beta testing period, with a public launch for iOS 12 planned for September alongside new iPhones.<doc-sep>Have you been plagued by popups in iOS 12 beta telling you that there are updates to the operating system when in fact there aren't any? Well, Apple's released an update to fix that. Must read: Apple products you should not buy (August 2018 edition) If you are running the beta, go to Settings > General > Software Update to grab this update and restore some sanity to your system. According to developer Guilherme Rambo, the bug came down down to a date bug: It looks like this method in Springboard does some date/time calculations to determine if the current build is about to expire, every time the cover sheet gets dismissed. For some reason, the latest builds of iOS 12 think they're about to expire. ZDNet is able to confirm that this update does indeed fix the problem. And ahead of the Labor Day weekend. Fortunately, the update is pretty small, coming in at under 100MB, so it shouldn't take too long to download and install. See also:<doc-sep>
Apple's iOS 12 beta offers early adopters the opportunity to try out new features. But Apple is quick to remind those folks that a beta is a beta and there's a chance that they'd deal with some bugs. And right now, they're doing exactly that. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Numerous iOS 12 beta users are complaining about a bug in iOS 12 that tells them a new update is available. The notification (above), requests that users update the operating system to get the latest version. The problem, however, is that there isn't an iOS 12 beta available right now. And every time they turn on their devices, the beta testers see the same notification. It's easy to close the notification by tapping the "Close" button, but after a few times of it popping up for no reason at all, it gets a little annoying. Fortunately, the folks at Apple Insider have at least found a temporary, if not totally ideal, workaround. If you go to Settings > General Date & Time and turn of Set Automatically, and then roll your iPhone's date back a month, you won't see the notification again. Of course, the problem here is that your iPhone won't be displaying the correct time and date. It's unclear just how widespread the bug is. But I can tell you that I've been testing iOS 12 in beta and I've been seeing it for at least the last few days. MORE: A Month with iOS 12 Beta: These 2 Features Changed Everything Of course, bugs are par for the course in the world of beta testing. And chances are, Apple will be able to update the operating system rather quickly and address it without any effect. But such bugs can make some folks question what's going on and whether the final build will have some problems when it launches. That becomes an especially acute fear when iOS 12 is expected to launch within the next couple of weeks. Apple on Thursday (Aug. 30) announced plans to hold its annual iPhone event on Sept. 12 at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park. If history is our guide, the company will showcase new iPhones there and deliver its iOS 12 to the general public soon after. In other words, Apple only has a couple of weeks to address the strange bugs inside iOS 12, like the latest notification, before it needs to get it ready for the primetime.