iOS 13 Public Beta 2: Better, but still a very broken beta
CNE
If you're running the iOS 13 public betas on your daily driver iPhone then you have my sympathies. While the Public Beta 2 release fixes several pretty painful bugs -- bugs which I think should never be present in public beta -- there's still plenty left to have you tearing your hair out.
Must read: iPhone, iPad, and Mac buyer's guide: July 2019 edition
I've taken a quick look at the iOS 13 Public Beta 2, and while it isn't the horror show that Public Beta 1 was, it's still very rough.
And before you reach for your keyboard to tell me, yes, I know it's a beta, and yes, I know this stuff is to be expected in betas. But the purpose of this piece is not to discuss what beta software means, but to offer those who are thinking of running it an idea of what awaits them.
So, at first blush, there are many fixes, from the Wi-Fi icon now showing consistently, apps run far more smoothly and with fewer crashes, and overall performance is better. Also, wallpapers now display correctly, and according to the release notes, clicking on links in apps doesn't cause apps to become unresponsive (although I still saw this a few times).
iOS 13: Things Apple still needs to fix
However, on the downside, crashes and lockups are still common, many apps display weird and wonky behaviors, and the integration between iOS 13 and iCloud seems shaky, with lots of problems showing up (making it frustratingly unreliable). Large photo libraries also cause the iPhone to slow down to a crawl.
Oh, and if you are running an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus, you still can't get access to the iOS 13 beta… which might not be a bad thing. (UPDATE: A kind reader tells me that he has installed the Public Beta 2 on an iPhone 7 Plus, so the release notes for the developer Beta 3 don't line up completely. UPDATE 2: I have confirmed that the iOS 13 Public Beta 2 runs on iPhone 7.)
The bottom line is that unless you want to play with the beta and are willing to put up with broken things, or you need it to test stuff, my advice is to give it a wide berth. It's too shaky at present, and so much stuff is broken that it isn't fun to use.
Are you running the iOS 13 Public Beta 2? If so, feel free to share your thoughts below.