Apple appears to be tackling iOS beta profile websites – IT Pro – News

From experience I can say that the interpretation of Beta & RC varies among companies and devs.
For me and also according to Wikipedia, a Beta is almost ready in terms of functionality. That’s why ‘off’ was also in quotes.

A beta phase generally begins when the software is feature complete but likely to contain several known or unknown bugs.

But I get what you’re saying, I know devs who see Beta as something unfinished, but can be used in part while it’s still being developed

With us, the intention is that the RC no longer has any known bugs or does not need to be fixed before the release. It’s not called a “Release Candidate” for nothing.
It would be weird if you have an RC that you already know you don’t want/will release, then it’s not a candidate.
Of course there are often bugs from an RC that have to be fixed before the release.

So for us, and most devs I know, a Beta is almost finished, no major additions, but has known bugs.
An RC becomes available and often has unknown bugs that are not found internally.

A release candidate (RC), also known as “going silver”, is a beta version with potential to be a stable product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge.

But as I said, the interpretation varies.

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