Apple seeded iOS 6.1 beta to developers of iOS Developer program few days back, shortly after releasing iOS 6.0.1.
If you’re new to iOS development and want to install the iOS 6.1 beta on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch to test your apps, then follow the step-by-step instructions mentioned below.
Some important points before we start:
- We’re assuming that you’re a member of Apple’s iOS Dev Center.
- This guide is only meant for developers who want to test their apps on iOS 6.1 beta.
- Check out this post to find out what’s new in iOS 6.1.
- Beta versions are usually buggy, so please proceed at your own risk.
- Please ensure that you’ve backed up your iOS device to iCloud or using iTunes before you upgrade to iOS 6.1 beta.
- Please note iOS 6.1 beta is only compatible with the following iOS devices:
- iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS
- iPad 4, iPad 3, iPad 2, iPad mini
- iPod touch 5G, iPod touch 4G
- Jailbreakers please note that the jailbreak community will not release tools to jailbreak beta versions of iOS 6.1.
You can follow these step-by-step instructions to install iOS 6.1 beta on your iOS device:
Provisioning:
This is where you assign devices for development and testing purpose. If you have already provisioned your iOS device then skip this step and move start to Download and Install software.
- Login to iOS Dev Center
- Click on the iOS Provisioning Portal link at the top right of the sidebar.
- Next click on Devices in the left navigational panel.
- Then click on Add Devices.
- Here you need to enter the UDID of the iOS device, which is a 50 hex character string. You can find the UDID using either Xcode or iTunes:
- Xcode method – Connect your device to your Mac and open Xcode. Then in Xcode, navigate to the ‘Window’ drop down menu and select ‘Organizer’. You should now see your device’s UDID. Double click on it to highlight and press Command+C to copy the UDID to your Clipboard.
- iTunes method – Connect your iOS device to your Mac and launch iTunes. In iTunes, select your iOS device in the ‘Devices’ section and navigate to the Summary tab. Click on the Serial Number label, this will show the Identifier field and the 40 hex character UDID. Press Command+C to copy the UDID to your clipboard.
- Enter the name of the your iOS Device and paste the UDID that you have copied from the above step and click on the Submit button.
Download and install Software:
- Navigate back to the iOS Dev Center.
- Under the iOS 6.1 SDK Beta tab, download the latest version of Xcode and install it on your Mac.
- Download iOS 6.1 beta for your iOS device. After it has been successfully downloaded, double click on the .dmg file to mount it.
- Download iTunes 10.7 from the iTunes download page and install it.
Install iOS 6.1 Beta:
You can install iOS 6.1 Beta using Xcode or iTunes. iTunes would be a preferred method for app testers.
iTunes method:
- Open iTunes
- Connect your iOS device to your Mac and launch iTunes.
- In iTunes, select your iOS device in the ‘Devices’ section and navigate to the Summary tab.
- Hold down on the Option/Alt button and click the Restore button.
- Now select the .ipsw file from the mounted drive to install iOS 6.1 beta and click on the Open button.
- iTunes will inform you that it “will erase and restore your iPod to iOS 6.1 and will verify the restore with Apple”. If you’ve taken a backup of your iOS device, then click on the Restore button.
- iTunes will now extract the software and install iOS 6.1 on your iOS device.
- After the device reboots, if you have Xcode running in the background then it should display the ‘New Device Detected’ dialog. Click ‘Use for Development’.
- Then set up the device from the backup using iTunes or from iCloud to complete the installation.
Xcode method:
- Connect your device to your Mac
- Then launch Xcode and close iTunes
- Navigate to Windows -> Organiser
- Select your iOS device in the ‘Devices’ section
- Then Click on Use for Development, here you may be prompted to enter your login details
- Click on the Software version and click on the Other version
- Now navigate in Finder to the iOS .ipsw file downloaded from the iOS Dev Center and select it
- When you see iOS 6.1 beta in the Software version, click on Restore iOS device
- After the device reboots, if you have Xcode running in the background then it should display the ‘New Device Detected’ dialog. Click ‘Use for Development’.
- Then launch iTunes and set up the device to complete the iOS installation
That’s it, you’re all set to start testing your apps on your iOS device running iOS 6.1 beta.
As always, let us know how it goes in the comments section.
