Apple Highlights Low Fragmentation Among iOS Devices in Direct Jab at Android

In keeping with the tasty cuisine motif, I think the next version of Android should be named "**** Sandwich".
 
nickharris1992 said:
Honestly, who is the 1% on an OS older than 6? Either get a new device or upgrade. Its not safe to live in the stone age. :D
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My boss still has his 3GS, and I wonder if he's one of those 1% because he's only got a PC laptop at work, and I doubt he's ever actually plugged it into a computer. If he has, it's got to be only for initial set-up. For a while he was actually carrying around two iPads, and I wonder if that's because he couldn't get the info to sync across the two of them.
 
LagunaSol said:
Tell you what, let's hit up The Verge, Engadget, CNET or any other supposedly "tech-neutral" site. You give me a nickel for every Android fanatic comment, I'll give you a nickel for every Apple fanboy comment.

Then we'll check Apple-centric sites vs Android-centric sites: the true test of hardcore dedication to trolling the other side. We'll up the ante. A quarter from you for every Android fanatic comment on an Apple-centric site, a quarter from me for every Apple fanboy comment on an Android-centric site.

I'll be retired by the end of the week. :D
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Listen, I am not here to argue. I read a lot, and unfortunately, a lot of that is ridiculous trash talk on both ends. If you believe that Fandroids are worse, feel free to do so. I am not here to convince you otherwise. And I am also not interested in counting, because I don't trust you to pay out. ;) (half kidding on that last part, or maybe not, I don't know you)
 
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Looking at App Store usage isn't really a good way to measure OS adoption. People on old versions of iOS aren't going to be visiting the App Store very much because a lot of apps require newer versions of iOS.

I'm currently developing for iOS (as a beginner), and it seems like Apple makes developing apps that work on old versions difficult on purpose despite the nice iOS simulators.
 
TWSS37 said:
Again, we disagree. My understanding of versioning is major vs incremental updates. Apple names their incremental releases just like Google does. Just like the difference between iOS 6 and 7 will be huge, the difference between 2.x and 4.x is just as huge. The difference between 4.0 and 4.1+ is marginal to the average user on Android. And yes, I get Project Butter and Google Now are main differences - but not enough to support a full OS version uptick.

I see Apple uses a lot of hardware to drive software releases (Siri, features in iOS 7) whereas Google does the opposite.

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A formally unannounced OS, let alone a release date, on a phone released over a year ago?

While I follow your logic, you're dealing in hypotheticals.
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BaldiMac said:
:confused: Again, you are basing this on different numbering systems that are applied differently. Google considers named versions to be major releases on par with iOS major releases. Google made the chart and table grouping them that way. That's why 4.1 and 4.2 are both considered Jelly Bean.
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I think you are both right, just in different ways. From a semantics standpoint, 4.0 is not the same as 4.1 (says Google). From an end user (and perhaps even developer) stand point, it may as well be.
 
Max_Walker said:
Apple maps app for UK is still no match for Google maps. iOS5 hanging in there.
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Is there a reason you don't just download the google maps app on ios6? Seriously question, by the way, not trying to judge. I could understand initial hesitation (when there was ONLY Apple maps), but now that Google has released maps for the AppStore I see no reason to hang out on iOS5.
 
lordofthereef said:
Is there a reason you don't just download the google maps app on ios6? Seriously question, by the way, not trying to judge. I could understand initial hesitation (when there was ONLY Apple maps), but now that Google has released maps for the AppStore I see no reason to hang out on iOS5.
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The Google Maps app isn't default, and it's a laggy, jumbled mess in general. Good thing I don't need it.
 
mattbaar26 said:
Yeah but all of iOS's new features aren't available on all devices. iOS will have even more features that won't be available on older devices.
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Yeah but that's not a problem for Apple. It's a motivating force for people to upgrade their older devices, and Apple makes more money by selling newer hardware. :)
 
The 4.1 numbers for Google are totally skew-whiff, since I have not even registered with Google, let alone visited the Google Play.

Add mine, and the whole chart shifts. :)
 
Problem is for Apple it's not "fragmemted" in name only. They put in pure bs blocks in their os updates. For example siri not in the 4 or no gps in the 4 and so on.

Also apple does not make running older versions of there apps easy in dev. They fragment their own os like crazy.
Also fragmenting does not hurt android as much as apple and android haters like to claim.
 
sjwk said:
Where Apple wins, and Google with the Nexus range, is that the manufacturer controls the update cycle, and the phone companies are simply not allowed to go and mess it up or delay releases for 6 months. My S2 is still waiting for 4.1. Every other network in the UK other than Orange and T-Mobile released it several months ago. My next phone, once I get out of a 24 month contract, will not have branding and will allow me to update it as soon as an update is out.
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Sorry, but your post reminds me of the battered wife syndrome. There is no guarantee that if your Nexus phone will be supported as long as Apple supports iPhone. Why continue with Android if you constantly are denied OS upgrades and have to wait longer or indefinitely for "hot" apps that might or might not end up on the Android platform even assuming that you can even run it on the version of Android that you have?

You recognize the fragmentation but then proceed to make excuses for it.

@MegamanX: Yeah, some features like SIRI do not get back ported but those generally not API accessible features anyway. Anything that is accessible by third party apps using the API is supported by the vast majority of devices that support that version of iOS. The only time when an API feature is not present is if the hardware does not support it at all or would be too slow to be useful.

For example, the original iPad did not have a front facing camera which is why no third party apps could make use of one.
 
paul4339 said:
That's from Q1 2011 (when Android 2.3 was the most recent version).
Is there a more recent chart available?

.
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I am not aware of any recent chart - but I do remember reading an interview with top iOS AND Android developers and the message was the same - iOS is increasing complexity due to various devices and Android version and hardware differences was a solveable problem. Can't find the link right now but I am pretty sure none of them said they were big enough for them to reconsider Android support. But even ignoring all that - given the number of Apps on Android anyone would be hard pressed to think the issue was so big that it kept the developers from releasing their apps.
 
parapup said:
If you look at feature set of the OSes - Android 2.3 had all of the features of iOS7 :p So big deal Apple - same OS from 2007-2013 and ONE relatively significant iOS7 update that even tries to match Android 2.3!

Besides, Android people don't need to wait for an OS update to update most of their OS - it's called modularization peeps! (Chrome, Google Services(GMail, Play Store, various frameworks), Launchers, Keyboards - everything updates outside of the OS. So yeah, big deal with the numbers Apple - they don't mean as much as you make it sound they do.
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Yet it was nowhere near as stable or robust as iOS 4.3.
 
Aljamaki said:
Yet it was nowhere near as stable or robust as iOS 4.3.
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Having used both Nexus One and Epic 4G for quite a time - I don't know what instability you are talking about. It wasn't 100% smooth but it wasn't unreliable either.
 
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inkswamp said:
Again, being first with a feature isn't much of a bragging point if it's so poorly implemented that the user cannot reliably use it.
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As long as your definition of reliability is perfection - there cannot be any argument. Having used every Android release - I can't call any of the features unreliable. Can be improved - yes, that's always the case with everything, but unusable, heck no. They were fine for the time. Lot better than having nothing.
 
Apple can't hide the fact that 100% of iOS users have fewer features than the majority of Android users because iOS 6 has fewer features that Gingerbread or ICE or JB. Besides for some reason Apple treats many regular applications like an integral part of OS. As a result, without upgrading to newer version of OS you can't get newer versions of apps. That's not the case with Android. For most Google applications, their latest versions can be installed on earlier versions of Android. It probably has something to do with the fact that iOS has so limited functionality. As a result, newer versions of apps often require newer version of iOS (because they need new features that were added to newer version of OS)
 
lilo777 said:
Apple can't hide the fact that 100% of iOS users have fewer features than the majority of Android users because iOS 6 has fewer features that Gingerbread or ICE or JB.)
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Hide it? Why would they hide it? If your made up fact is actually true, Apple would be proud of it. :D
 
mattbaar26 said:
Yeah but all of iOS's new features aren't available on all devices. iOS will have even more features that won't be available on older devices.
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They will have some new features, even if not all. By upgrading to iOS 7 even iPad 2 users like me will still get new features. Plus the big point here is that it is a choice. A choice many, many Android users don't get to make.
 
dennno said:
It's going to be more fragmented now once iOS7 is released. I have a feeling adoption rates will not be as high as previous iOS, people are afraid of change.
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I'd adopt it, but my 4gen Touch won't take it, apparently.
 
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