Here’s How Long the iOS 14 Beta Takes

The iOS 14 beta requires a large download and it could take a long time to install it on your iPhone.

Apple’s iOS 14 beta is available right now for users enrolled in the company’s developer program. Apple has also released a public iOS 14 beta which is free to try.

The iOS 14 beta is packed with changes which makes it an extremely tempting download. If you do decide to install the iOS 14 beta on your device, be prepared to spend time downloading, installing, and testing the software for issues.

If you haven’t signed up for the developer program or the Beta Software Program yet, you’ll need to spend some time doing that as well.

The iOS 14 beta requires a large download for all compatible iPhone models. It’s a 2GB+ file and it could take awhile to download onto your iPhone.

We can’t tell you exactly how long the iOS 14 beta will take because mileage will vary from person-to-person and device-to-device. The timing also depends on your familiarity with the beta process and your current version of iOS.

That being said, we can help you approximate how much time you’ll need to spend downloading and installing the iOS 14 beta on your device.

If you’ve prepared for the installation, you might be able to complete the installation in 30 minutes or less. If you’re starting from scratch, it could take an hour or more.

Pre-Installation

Once you’ve made the decision to install the iOS 14 beta on your iPhone, you’ll want to spend some time preparing yourself, and your device, for the installation.

If this isn’t your first rodeo, this probably won’t take a ton of time. If this is your first stab at using iOS beta software, you’ll want to take your time.

We’ve put together a pre-installation guide that takes you through the steps we normally take before we install iOS beta software on our devices.

You’ll want to backup all of your data before you move your phone to the beta. Data loss issues are rare, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

You’ll also want to dig into feedback from iOS 14 beta testers, find fixes for potential problems, and get familiar with the downgrade process.

Some of you will get this done in 30 minutes or so. Others will need an hour or more. Bottom line, don’t tap start the installation until you’re ready.

iOS 14 Beta Download

If you’re moving your device from iOS 13 to the iOS 14 beta, your download will be several gigabytes. In some cases, it might be closer to 4GB.

If you’re running the latest version of iOS 13 and you’ve got a high-speed Wi-Fi connection at work or home, your download could take just a few minutes.

It took us a little over four minutes to download the iOS 14 beta onto an iPhone 8.

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iOS 14 Beta Installation

You should be able to get iOS 14 up and running on your device in about 10-15 minutes. It took around 10 minutes to install the developer beta on our iPhone 8.

If this is your first time installing iOS beta software, it could take longer. It’s worth mentioning that the public iOS 14 beta is easier to install.

Once you become an Apple developer, you can find the iOS 14 beta firmware waiting for you in the “Software Update” section of your Settings app.

After you download it, you’ll want to tap install and it will automatically start installing on your iPhone, provided you’ve cleared out enough space for the installation.

Your device might reboot once or twice during the installation process. This is perfectly normal and shouldn’t have any impact on your installation or the beta’s performance.

For more on the iOS 14 beta installation, take a look at our walkthrough.

Post-Installation

After you get iOS 14 beta up and running on your iPhone, you might need to spend some time logging back into your apps and services.

You’ll also want to check on all of your important files and make sure everything is where it’s supposed to be. We also recommend using your core applications to ensure that they’re working properly.

Apps, particularly third-party applications, sometimes run poorly on iOS beta software so you’ll want to ensure that your most important services are stable. If they aren’t, you might need to downgrade back to iOS 13.

You’ll also want keep an eye on your device’s performance. Battery life and connectivity (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc) sometimes act up on beta software.

Install iOS 14.8.1 for Better Security

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If security is important to you, think about installing iOS 14.8.1 right away. The iOS 14.8.1 update brings 12 new security patches to the iPhone. You can read about all of them over on Apple's site.  If you want to better protect your iPhone and its data, you'll want to install the iOS 14.8.1 update in the near future.  If you missed iOS 14.8, you'll get its security patches with your upgrade. You can learn more about them right here.  If you missed iOS 14.7.1, you'll get its patch with your upgrade. If you want to learn more about iOS 14.7.1's security update, check out its support page. If you missed iOS 14.7, you'll get its 31 security patches with your upgrade. You can learn more about those on Apple's website.  If you skipped iOS 14.6, you'll get the update's 38 security patches with your iOS 14.8.1 update. If you're curious about the particulars, you can read about them right here. If you skipped iOS 14.5.1, you get the update's two security patches on board. You can read about them over on Apple's website. Both are related to WebKit.  If you missed iOS 14.5 you'll get its patches with your upgrade. You can read more about those changes over on Apple's website. iOS 14.5 also brought Apple's new App Tracking Transparency which lets you control which apps are allowed to track your activity across other companies' apps and websites for ads or sharing with data brokers. If you skipped iOS 14.4.2, you get its security patch with iOS 14.8.1. You can learn more about that patch over on Apple's website as well.  If you missed iOS 14.4.1, you get its patch with your upgrade to iOS 14.8.1. You can read about that patch right here. If you skipped iOS 14.4, you get the update's patches with your upgrade. You can learn more about iOS 14.4's security patches right here.  If you skipped iOS 14.3 you'll get its nine security updates with your upgrade. You can read more about them on its security site.  iOS 14.3 also included a new privacy information section on App Store pages that includes a developer-reported summary of the app’s privacy practices. If you skipped iOS 14.2, your iOS 14.8.1 update includes 24 additional security patches. You can learn more about the patches on Apple's security website.  If you're still running iOS 13, iOS 14.8.1 includes iOS 14.0's security updates.  iOS 14.0 brought 11 new security patches to the iPhone. If you're interested in the exact nature of these improvements, you can read about them over on Apple's website. In addition to those patches, iOS 14 comes with some security and privacy upgrades including improvements to Home/HomeKit and Safari.  For instance in Safari, you can now tap the Privacy Report button to better understand how websites handle your privacy. With iOS 14 on board you can now get information on the App Store that will help you understand the privacy practices of apps before you download them.  There is also a new recording indicator that will appear at the top of your screen whenever an app is using your microphone or camera. You can see if an app has used them recently in Control Center. Researchers also discovered that Apple brought a new "BlastDoor" sandbox security system to iOS 14. The system is meant to prevent attacks from occurring via the Messages app.  You can read more about "BlastDoor" right here.

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Last update on 2024-04-07. This post may contain affiliate links. Click here to read our disclosure policy for more details. Images via Amazon API