(Photo: 9to5Mac)
(Photo: 9to5Mac)

People who want to get a sneak peek at updates to iOS now have a new path to do so thanks to a beta program Apple launched today. The company is now allowing invited members of its OS X public beta program to sign up and test pre-release updates to its mobile operating system.

Users who get an invitation can log in to the Apple Seed website and get access to the iOS beta program, which includes information about the iOS 8.3 beta and instructions on how to install it. (According to 9to5Mac, the program is rolling out slowly, so it’s possible that users who log in won’t get access right away.) To install the beta, users have to install a profile on their iPhone or iPad which will then allow them to install the OS update by going to Settings > General > Software Update.

iPhone6_PF_SpGry_5-Up_iOS8-PRINT-2The beta includes support for Apple’s new set of more diverse emoji, and adds support for more languages and countries to Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant.

It’s a marked contrast from Apple’s past policy, which restricted iOS betas to members of the iOS Developer Program who pay $99 a year for the ability to create apps for the iPhone and iPad.

Interested users should note that this is pre-release software, and definitely not for the faint of heart. In the past, developer betas of iOS have shipped with massive bugs that led to people losing data unexpectedly. Prior to installing the update, users should back up their phone to iTunes, because that backup will be the only thing that allows them to revert their phone to a shipping version of iOS (in this case, the newly-released iOS 8.2) if they decide the beta isn’t for them.

Doing so is a very involved process: users will have to erase their phone and re-install the shipping version of iOS, before restoring from a backup that uses a previous version of the OS. Yes, that mans that people will lose any information they had on their device between when the backup was made and when they decided to restore it.

Overall, the program should help Apple improve the quality of iOS by expanding the number of people who can test the software before it goes live. That’s important as the company faces continuing criticism about the quality and stability of its software. Previous rumors about the existence of a beta program said that Apple will use a similar program for iOS 9, which it’s expected to announce later this year.

[This story has been updated to clarify the invite-only nature of the program.]

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