Apple Releases First Beta of iOS 11.3 for Public Beta Testers - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple Releases First Beta of iOS 11.3 for Public Beta Testers

by

Apple today released the first public beta of an upcoming iOS 11.3 update to its public beta testing group, one day after seeding the first beta to developers and a few days after releasing the iOS 11.2.5 update.

Beta testers who are members of Apple's beta testing program will receive the iOS 11.3 beta update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on an iOS device.

Those who want to join the beta testing program can sign up on Apple's beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas. iOS betas are not always stable and should not be installed on a primary device.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.

iOS 11.3 is a significant update that introduces multiple new features like Messages on iCloud for storing your iMessages in iCloud, and ARKit 1.5, a new, upgraded version of ARKit that can more accurately map irregularly shaped surfaces and recognize and place objects on vertical surfaces like walls.

Four new Animoji are available for the iPhone X, the Health app has a new Health Records feature where you can store your medical records, and AirPlay 2 features are available in both iOS 11.3 and tvOS 11.3.

Other features new to iOS 11.3 include an Apple News "For You" section that displays the top videos of the day, Advanced Mobile Location (AML) for sharing more accurate location info when placing an emergency call in a supported country, and a new Privacy icon that will show up whenever Apple asks you for info. iBooks has also had the "i" removed from its name, so it's just "Books" now.

In the future, Apple plans to introduce more detailed information about the health of a device's battery. The update should provide a lot more data about battery health, and there will also be an option to let customers turn off the power management feature entirely, though Apple does not recommend disabling it.

Business Chat, which will let you interface with businesses like Wells Fargo, Delta, Hilton and Lowe's right in the Messages app is coming when iOS 11.3 is released, and improvements to Apple Music will bring better support for music videos.

Apple says iOS 11.3 will be released to the public in the spring.

Related Forum: iOS 11

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
Read Full Article • 151 comments
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Read Full Article • 111 comments
Apple iCloud Plus expansion hero

iCloud+ Now Includes Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and Curated Apple Music Stations in Over 100 Countries

Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries. In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....
Read Full Article • 107 comments

Top Rated Comments

justperry Avatar
justperry
113 months ago
Have fun out there, some nasty bugs in this one. Obviously beta 1, just remember that kids.
Please tell us instead of using the word "some".
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrGimper Avatar
MrGimper
113 months ago
Apple today released the first public beta of an upcoming iOS 11.2.5 update to its public beta testing group, one day after seeding the first beta to developers and a few days after releasing the iOS 11.2.5 update ('https://www.macrumors.com/2018/01/23/apple-releases-ios-11-2-5/').
Surely you mean 11.3?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Chris Grande Avatar
Chris Grande
113 months ago
There's a part of me that likes the idea of Messages over iCloud but part of me that gets concerned about accidentally deleting something and having it gone permanently. I have multiple OS and iOS systems, and I had one important Messages thread that I accidentally deleted from my phone by swiping the wrong thread. 100% my fault. Fortunately, I still have the important stuff on my iPad. Yes, I could have theoretically restored from backup, but what a pain for one message thread. Had that occurred while managed on the cloud, it would have been a huge hassle.

Now what about this: I have a phone that has different messages on it than my iPad and Macs due to different uses, though they all sync to the same iCloud account and all initially receive the same iMessage texts. If I enable iCloud Messaging, does it simply sync every thread on all devices? Is there a chance that--since I have deleted some threads on different devices--those threads will be deleted across all devices?
These are all good questions, I have yet to test, but during the initial 11.0 betas it would sync up all convos in their current state on all devices.

But I recommend everyone who has the Feedback app request that the delete feature be replaced with "Archive" which would just hide the conversion on all devices and then make Delete a two step process.

Also another question is what happens with conversions that split across Apple ID's, the Mac merges them, iOS never did...
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C
C DM
113 months ago
They should first fix all bugs of iOS 11 before they start to add new features.
No such thing really exists in the software (or even hardware) world.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sbailey4 Avatar
sbailey4
113 months ago
I've never been part of the public beta, is it something to use on a secondary device?
Typically a good idea. At least for initial ones maybe b1-3. But if you are savy enough to recover if need be or not dependent on any mission critical apps its certainly fine. Apple typically wouldn't publish to public if not somewhat stable enough to do so IMO. And usually the x.x.X updates are generally pretty safe. Best to read the bug fix threads when devs get it (day or so before public testers) then decide if you want it based on the feedback.

Can you turn off the throttling in this beta?
No, you can’t-it’s coming in a later beta release.
No but its apparently already turned off by default in this beta.

I thought it was to be included in 11.3.
Apple stated "in a beta coming next month" so the thought is maybe beta 2 or 3 it will be there. But its already off in this beta it appears.

20 pages, first page no bugs.
Mine is doing fine, haven't encountered any bugs, battery seems to be much better.
yeah seem like its being pretty well accepted by most users so far.

Did the update, but now my visual voicemail isn't working. Just shows a button "Call Voicemail". Spoke with Verizon and all services are on, but it's not working on my phone. Is anyone else seeing this issue?
Happened in the past as well. Not necessarily due to this beta as not seen other reports. However in previous betas of the 11.x branch it was common and the fix was to toggle airplane mode for a few seconds or call yourself and leave a message.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
L
lsutigerfan1976
113 months ago
You get an Animoji! And you get an Animoji! And you get an Animoji!!!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments