If you have a valid Apple Developer subscription, you are not affected by this change. The next step that Apple took to restrict people from accessing the iOS Developer Beta program was to remove support for beta configuration profiles, which is happened last week when iOS 16.4 Beta was released. Apple didn't stop there, it slapped several DMCA notices on Twitter forcing the social network to take down Tweets that contained links to IPSW (iPhone Software) files. Other sites followed suit, though it is unclear if they did it as a precautionary measure or after being warned by the Cupertino company. The owner of the site took down the portal to avoid a legal battle with Apple. The tech giant took action on a popular website called Betaprofiles last year.

This meant Apple was losing out on the fee that it charged Developers, it didn't want people accessing the Dev Beta for free. Thousands of users downloaded iOS beta configuration profiles to try out the new iteration of iOS when it is announced every year. The idea is to provide them early access to the latest version of iOS, so they can make changes to their app, possibly add new features using the latest APIs, and more importantly to ensure that their app is compatible with the new version of the operating system. This also gives developers access to some other benefits, including access to the Apple Beta Developer Program. This isn't free, Apple charges a fee of $99 per year for it. The main benefit of the Developer program is to submit your app to the App Store, where it's hosted. Websites and individuals distributed the Developer profile (a downloadable file), which users could download, and install on their Apple devices to gain access to iOS Developer Beta. The problem is, this wasn't exactly the official way to do it. Up until now, users had a way to install Developer Betas on their iPhone (and iPad), with the help of a configuration profile.

Developer beta profile