When it comes to consumer devices, there is none better than Apple. Software and services, however, are a different story. Apple is great at laying the groundwork; iOS and OS X are fantastic platforms that somehow manage to be wildly capable and yet surprisingly simple. But the software and services Apple builds to add value to its platform are often riddled with issues. MobileMe, Ping, iCloud and other offerings often have annoying bugs and illogical UX issues that enrage some users. In fact, many people are still having serious issues with Apple’s latest new service, Apple Music.
Apple also tends to run into issues with new software releases. Remember when Apple’s iOS 8.0.1 update rendered tens of thousands of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus handsets completely useless? Now, another little snafu has left people thinking that iOS 9 was accidentally released over the weekend.
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Apple’s private iOS 9 betas are intended for developer use only, but that doesn’t stop thousands upon thousands of Apple fans from registering $99 developer accounts in order to get their hands on early pre-release versions of iOS. This past weekend, many of those users saw the following message pop up on their iPhones and iPads:
When users went into settings to update their devices, however, no new software was available. So naturally, dozens of them kept checking for updates repeatedly and sent BGR frantic emails wondering what was going on…
People familiar with the little bumps along the road to Apple’s new software releases know this isn’t a big deal. But since Apple doesn’t prevent regular end users from joining the iOS developer program, a huge portion of the people currently using Apple’s iOS 9 developer betas probably shouldn’t be.
UPDATE: We’ve now heard from several users on the public iOS 9 beta that they received the pop-up as well
So with that, a quick PSA: No, Apple didn’t accidentally release iOS 9 early. And no, the iOS 9 GM wasn’t pushed out this past weekend either. There’s nothing wrong with your iPhone or iPad that’s preventing it from downloading updates. It was a mistake.
