Released on September 17th, iOS 8 was quickly installed on many compatible devices, even though users had to battle with unexpected storage problems for iOS upgrades performed directly on iPhones, iPads and iPod touches. A few days later, on September 21, Apple revealed on its developer pages that 46% of devices that connected to the Apple Store were already running iOS 8. However, since then, reports have suggested iOS 8 adoption is far from matching its predecessor’s performance, and Apple is now confirming that iOS 8 installations have come to a screeching halt.
According to a new graph posted on its developer pages, iOS 8 is now installed on 47% of iOS devices that have connected to the App Store. iOS 7 is now at 47% (dropped from 49%) while earlier versions account for 6% (up from 5% registered on September 21st).
There are various reasons why iOS users may have delayed upgrading to Apple’s latest operating system, including the aforementioned storage troubles but also performance issues for older devices such as the iPhone 4s and iPad 2, which convinced many users to downgrade.
Furthermore, Apple’s botched iOS 8.0.1 release (for iPhone 6 units), as well as complaints about battery issues and Wi-Fi problems caused by iOS 8 — and the fact that iOS 8 launched without certain features active such as HealthKit apps, SMS continuity features and iCloud Drive — may have prevented other users from upgrading to iOS 8 until a more stable version is released.
Apple has since released iOS 8.0.2, enabling HealthKit apps and fixing some of the issues in iOS 8.0.1. The company will release iOS 8.1 in the coming weeks, bringing Apple Pay support to iPhone 6 models, and likely SMS continuity support and full iCloud Drive functionality to iOS users that also own Macs, and, likely, some performance improvements.
Other reasons for staying away from iOS 8 is the need of preserving a jailbroken iOS experience (for some users) or the inability of others to install the OS on a device that’s not supported anymore (iPhone 4).
Comparatively, iOS 7 adoption was at almost 70% 20 days after its release, as MacRumors notes.
Apple certainly isn’t isn’t happy with adoption numbers for its latest iOS version, an asset often advertised during events to highlight a crucial difference between iOS and Android: Fragmentation status.
The following graphs show Apple’s iOS 8 adoption numbers for September 21st and October 5th.
