Apple Reportedly Prepping iOS Public Beta Program

According to an article published at 9to5Mac, Apple Inc. AAPL is preparing to launch the first-ever public beta program for its iOS operating system.

Sources familiar with the issue say that the company intends to debug the upcoming iOS 8.3 version (codenamed Stowe) before releasing it to the general public, and fight “unauthorized sales of beta downloads from developer accounts.”

Apparently, Apple intends to introduce the beta through its AppleSeed program around March 9. According to the article, Apple then plans to present its iOS 9 at its June Worldwide Developer Conference, with a public beta release during the summer, and a final version in the fall.

The sources say that the iOS betas will be quite exclusive, though, reaching just 100,000 people, compared to the public beta launched in 2014 for the OS X Yosemite, which was released to the first million people who registered.

The iOS 8.3 was first seeded to a select group of retail employees in January, and to developers in early February. The wider public now awaits its turn (probably anxiously).