14 DAY TRIAL // If you’re not willing to trust analytics when it comes to iOS adoption rate, you can always just visit the App Store Distribution page over at Apple’s Developer site.
The Cupertino giant somewhat confirms Fiksu’s recent findings in that people have stopped downloading iOS 8, an unforeseen scenario given the wide adoption rate of new iOS versions each year.
47% of devices are using iOS 8
At the time of this writing, less than half of iDevices were running Apple’s latest software update. iOS 8 gained just one measly point (from 46% to 47%) since September 21, the date touted by Apple for their previous estimate.
Fiksu’s numbers are a little different. Granted, they can only see devices that are running ad platforms tracked by the analytics company. Apple tracks every iDevice out there via identifiers that fire off a signal whenever someone starts downloading iOS 8. There’s a 10% difference between Apple’s reporting and Fiksu’s, which is certainly not negligible.
Considering that the 10% difference applies to all firmware builds tracked by Fiksu, past and present, there’s still a huge gap between the adoption rate recorded for iOS 7 and that of iOS 8: a full 20 points.
Beleaguered release
The iOS 8.0 launch wasn’t exactly the smoothest rollout in Apple’s portfolio. Some people were not able to download the firmware, others saw their devices freeze during installation, while some quickly went back to iOS 7 for one reason or another.
The bugs reported in iOS 8.0.1 further put off any desire to grab Apple’s latest firmware. But there’s one particularity surrounding iOS 8 and the current state of the iDevice ecosystem that the media seems to be overlooking.
Lots of old devices
Apple doesn’t release numbers regarding the iPhone install base by model. Here’s where Fiksu’s analytics again comes in handy.
According to the firm’s iPhone Usage Monitor, more than 30 percent of all iPhones today are iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S models. iPhone 4, as you may know, does not support iOS 8. That’s 13 percent off the blackboard. 4S devices account for just over 20 percent. This device does support iOS 8, but here’s the kicker.
Owners of aging iPhone models are particularly careful not to update their firmware for fear of hammering down the phone. In 2013, the iPhone 4 install base found out the hard way that installing the latest OS on a 3-year old device can have consequences. This year, the 4S user base knows not to touch it before everyone says it’s okay. There should also be a lot of iPhone 5 users who’ve taken the wait-and-see approach.
