iOS 8 is making its way onto most iPhones and iPads

Mar 19, 2015 08:11 GMT  ·  By

Yesterday, we brought you a piece of news which revealed that a major corporate firm banned Android phones and tablets due to fragmentation and started looking in the direction of iOS and Windows Phone instead.

Earlier this month, Google made public the Android distribution numbers for March. Apparently, the Android 5.0 Lollipop spread is quite limited, amounting for only 3.3% of the market five months after launch. The previous version, KitKat, is the one carrying the most bulk, with 40.9% of all the Android devices using it.

Next in line are Android 4.2.x Jelly Bean with 19.4% and Jelly Bean 4.1.x with 17.3%. So, as you can see, the Android ecosystem is still dominated by an OS version that’s over one year old.

Apple's new iOS 8 is being adopted fast

This week, Apple also revealed fresh statistics regarding iOS 8 distribution, and taking a look at the numbers, we can very well understand the decision of the unnamed corporate firm.

According to the numbers disclosed by the Cupertino tech giant, iOS 8 is currently running on 77% of the iPhones and iPads registered in the App Store. This constitutes an increase of 5% compared to the numbers we had in early February.

As for iOS 7, the mobile operating system is still installed on 20% of the devices, while earlier versions make up the remaining 3%.

Apple’s iOS 8 has picked up quite nicely after a period of brief stagnation in early October 2014, after the botched iOS 8.0.1 update that disabled cellular connectivity and Touch ID on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

Android is still plagued by fragmentation

There’s a massive contrast between Google’s and Apple’s distribution figures, with the latter managing to do a good job at persuading customers to update.

To be fair, Google’s job is a little bit more difficult. Android is used by various manufacturers for their smartphones and tablets, and usually they tweak the OS adding features of their own.

As demonstrated in the Android 5.0 Lollipop saga, some device makers will offer the update sooner, while others will take their sweet time with it. For example, Motorola was one of the first to update its flagship devices, but Sony took more than 5 months to start rolling out Lollipop for a handful of its devices.

Other device makers like Lenovo or Acer are yet to deliver the update for their current smartphone models.

Apple, on the other hand, doesn’t have to worry about partners, so it has better control of things. The company rolled out iOS 8.2 at its “Spring Forward” event earlier this month.