Apple's App Store Usage Numbers Suggest 46% Adoption Rate for iOS 8

[Jimmy James]

At the very least, I would think you could get rid of the install / update files with a phone wipe. Just backup your phone locally to iTunes or with iCloud. Then just do a wipe / erase all (not a restore) and reload the backup from iTunes / iCloud. Then turn off Auto-update to prevent it from redownloading the iOS 8 install?

Edit / Update: Just saw this too --

My auto app update is already off. I don't see such an option for the os.

 

[farewelwilliams]

Its that sort of thinking that allows Apple to get away with their premature obsoletion of older devices. Why do iPhone 4 users have to buy a new phone just to do exactly what they could do on it before?

I'm not saying Apple should let iOS 8 run on the iPhone 4. I'm saying Apple should support their older versions of iOS for a while instead of ditching it immediately and then slowly discontinuing features on it for no apparent reason other than 'screw you, you should have updated.'

1. I need iOS 8's APIs to make my life easier
2. Small marketshare of iPhone 4's

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Very arrogant attitude. Software developers don't make snarky comments about people with an iPhone 4, they figure out the cost of supporting iOS 7 vs. the cost of not supporting iOS 7 (losing customers and cost to adapt to iOS 8) and make rational decisions based on this.

Imagine my software is used in a company that bought 1,000 iPhone 4 for their users a while ago. These phones work just fine, at least the majority. Do you think they should pay out more than half a million dollars just to please you?

I don't think iPhone 4 users are going to miss out on my Flappy Bird SceneKit clone.

 

[oliversl]

I'm the 5% ©

 

[Need]

Like others pointed out, the 46% is completely bogus because the first thing you do after updating to iOS 8 is to update some of the apps! What they need to do is to take out all the iOS 8 users from the app store, and then compare the number of pre-iOS 8 users left against the normal number of users before iOS 8 was out for the same period of time.

 

[enzo thecat]

For me, iOS8 is more buggy than a bee hive. Im on a 6 Plus. Its useless at times and I have to constantly reset the phone.

 

[enzo thecat]

Its more buggy than an Amish trailer.

 

[theipodgod16]

Remember too that this number doesn't represent the number of users using iOS 6 or earlier. Users with iOS 5 or 6 may be less likely to visit the App Store because there aren't many apps that still support those older systems.

 

[C DM]

And expect previously working features to go too. Like the app store and facetime. There is no reason why these features have to stop functioning, but they do.

That can happen, but usually due to something that's rare, like a huge security issue.

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Nope they didn't. Apple is still signing iOS 7 and will continue to do so for a long while, probably another 9-10 months. It will most likely also continue to receive point updates for security updates. These two posters are referring to this past summer when Apple stopped signing iOS 6, basically making it mandatory for all eligible devices to upgrade, because iOS 6 wan't going to receive the security update to patch the hole found last summer.

However, this isn't new. All eligible devices had to upgrade to iOS 6, iOS 5, etc as soon as the older versions stopped being signed by Apple.

Even then it wasn't forced, it was just not possible to downgrade back to the previous version. Big difference.

What happens is that all eligible devices will not see the new point updates to iOS 7, they will be fed the iOS 8 updates instead. However, as long as Apple continues to sign iOS 7 releases, it will be possible to restore to that version of the software as a "new" device. There are plenty of guides out there I think.

The thing is, people can't expect to have their cake and eat it too. They want to have all the latest security updates but on an older version of the OS, even though their device is perfectly capable of running the latest one. Apple has generally actively supported 1.75 major versions of iOS at a time, and with that I mean they generally stop supporting the previous release a few months before the future release is launched (i.e. stopped supporting 6 a few months before 8 came out).

The big argument with 7 was the whole new visual look and feel. This time I don't know what the sticking point will be with some people.

In general, 8 is a better and more functional version of 7. It makes perfect sense to wait until the software is a bit more stable with the first point update, and there is no problem with that at all, Apple is not "forcing" anyone at this point.

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Yeah, but it doesn't automatically install it, and you can delete it as well. You can also for the foreseeable future downgrade back if you decide you made the wrong decision in updating. Apple is and will continue to sign and update 7 for another 3 quarters or so.

Why would Apple continue signing iOS 7 for so long? Where is this information coming from?

 

[AlecZ]

The App Store usage numbers do not accurately reflect adoption rate. OK, Apple knows exactly how many people installed which OS through installation signing and probably tens of other ways. Why can't they just use those numbers?

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Most people don't really care about OS updates. If they woke up one day and there was a popup which said "hey, your phone has added a couple of new features!", they probably wouldn't be all that surprised.

A couple new features and many new bugs. What if we want to update a bit later, after the bugs have been resolved? I don't think I'll even get iOS 8 since it uses more space and doesn't provide anything I care about yet. Really, a prompt asking me whether I want to update isn't that inconvenient. It has to ask me since I don't have enough space for the automatic download.

 

[appleii.c]

I wonder how many in this percentage actually chose to download this update. It downloaded uninvited on 3 of my devices.

If it was such a great update Apple wouldn't need to do this ... forced downloads.

I "Manually" downloaded and installed it onto my iPad 3. Not bad... runs smoother than I anticipated. I'll probably install it onto my old 4S to see how it runs.

 

[appleii.c]

Like others pointed out, the 46% is completely bogus because the first thing you do after updating to iOS 8 is to update some of the apps! What they need to do is to take out all the iOS 8 users from the app store, and then compare the number of pre-iOS 8 users left against the normal number of users before iOS 8 was out for the same period of time.

How is this bogus? It's a page for developers, similar to the android one. It's a guide so developers know what platform to develop for. Its not supposed to be indicative of web browsing, simply the apps being downloaded. I'm sure 46% of the phones accessing the App store today are on iOS8.

For reference, the analytics site MixPanel has the iOS adoption rate today at 35%

Mixpanel iOS8 trend

 

[Need]

How is this bogus? It's a page for developers, similar to the android one. It's a guide so developers know what platform to develop for. Its not supposed to be indicative of web browsing, simply the apps being downloaded. I'm sure 46% of the phones accessing the App store today are on iOS8.

For reference, the analytics site MixPanel has the iOS adoption rate today at 35%

Mixpanel iOS8 trend

It is the app store activity since iOS 8 released. Most iOS device users don't go to app store weekly. But just about everyone who just updated to iOS 8 and everyone who just got an iPhone 6/6 Plus with iOS 8 would go to the app store. So yes I believe that 46% of the iOS device accessing the App store are iOS 8 since iOS 8 released. But that number cannot be used as an iOS 8 "adoption rate" without knowing how much extra activities were taken place at the app store since iOS 8 were released.

In order for that number to not be "bogus". They will have to wait until the initial rush of app updates (because of OS change) are settled. Right now, the number is just a transient spike.

 

[flottenheimer]

I remember getting the first releases of Leopard and Lion and putting up with a lot of annoying bugs back then as well. People need to stop revising Apple's history. They made mistakes under Jobs as well.

Indeed they did make a lot of mistakes back then. Mistakes/bugs are inevitable in complex software systems. The number of bugs in iOS 8 seems really high though.

'It just works' wasn't about Steve. Neither was my comment. 'It just works' was a promise and more than that, it provided internal pressure to build things really well. I miss that promise – and even though they've abandoned it – it states very clearly what I always expect from Apple.

 

[appleii.c]

It is the app store activity since iOS 8 released. Most iOS device users don't go to app store weekly. But just about everyone who just updated to iOS 8 and everyone who just got an iPhone 6/6 Plus with iOS 8 would go to the app store. So yes I believe that 46% of the iOS device accessing the App store are iOS 8 since iOS 8 released. But that number cannot be used as an iOS 8 "adoption rate" without knowing how much extra activities were taken place at the app store since iOS 8 were released.

In order for that number to not be "bogus". They will have to wait until the initial rush of app updates (because of OS change) are settled. Right now, the number is just a transient spike.

It's not bogus. Bogus would imply that its false. That apple is lying.

Now, to say that the article headline is "misleading", I'll give you that. If you only read that headline it might lead you to believe that 46% of iPhones out in the wild are already on iOS 8.

A better barometer would be MixPanel. They estimate that number to be around 35% which is still pretty strong considering less than a weeks release of the iOS.

Either way, the adoption rate is, and likely will be very impressive. especially considering that, going by most analytic(s), apples iOS adoption rate is above 90% for an iOS newer than a year old. That's pretty impressive.

 

[enzo thecat]

Its more buggy than Herbie the luv bug

 

[manu chao]

Doesn't that manage iCould storage? (That's what it seems to show for me.) Now, on my iPad (iOS 8) there's a "Manage Storage" for the local device. But on my phone that list appears directly in the Usage list (initially it shows the top 10 along with a button to show all.)

BTW, how can I see the space this update is supposed to be taking up on my iPhone 4s (I'm running the latest update of iOS 7, I think)? It's not listed anywhere in the local storage list.

It does say I'm using 23.1 GB, but when I total the storage used by all my apps I get to something less than 22 GB... is that it?

Sorry, that 'Manage Storage' seems to be an iOS-8-only feature (which doesn't really help you now). Anyway, the size should be about 1 GB. It was about 970 MB on my iPhone 5 and 1.1 GB on my iPad 3.

On my iPad which is still on iOS 7, the update did not download automatically so far (but I only made enough free space a short while ago). It also shows a button labelled: 'Download and Install', implying that it requires me pressing it download. And above that it says 1.1 GB in a box.

On my iPhone it also did not start downloading on its own but then I was constantly checking for the update to show up last Wednesday so it would not have had the chance to download on its own before me actually pressing the download button myself.

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It's not bogus. Bogus would imply that its false. That apple is lying.

Now, to say that the article headline is "misleading", I'll give you that. If you only read that headline it might lead you to believe that 46% of iPhones out in the wild are already on iOS 8.

A better barometer would be MixPanel. They estimate that number to be around 35% which is still pretty strong considering less than a weeks release of the iOS.

Either way, the adoption rate is, and likely will be very impressive. especially considering that, going by most analytic(s), apples iOS adoption rate is above 90% for an iOS newer than a year old. That's pretty impressive.

I've said this before but isn't the App Store app always automatically checking for app updates in the background by default (the only option you have is whether it also downloads and installs them automatically, not whether it checks automatically)? And before iOS 7 brought automatic app update installs, the app store app already showed a badge with the number of app updates, implying that already back then under iOS 6 (and probably earlier), the app was automatically checking in with the App store on a regular basis, which means as long as an iOS device has access to the internet Apple would know its OS version.

 

[C DM]

Sorry, that 'Manage Storage' seems to be an iOS-8-only feature (which doesn't really help you now). Anyway, the size should be about 1 GB. It was about 970 MB on my iPhone 5 and 1.1 GB on my iPad 3.

On my iPad which is still on iOS 7, the update did not download automatically so far (but I only made enough free space a short while ago). It also shows a button labelled: 'Download and Install', implying that it requires me pressing it download. And above that it says 1.1 GB in a box.

On my iPhone it also did not start downloading on its own but then I was constantly checking for the update to show up last Wednesday so it would not have had the chance to download on its own before me actually pressing the download button myself.

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I've said this before but isn't the App Store app always automatically checking for app updates in the background by default (the only option you have is whether it also downloads and installs them automatically, not whether it checks automatically)? And before iOS 7 brought automatic app update installs, the app store app already showed a badge with the number of app updates, implying that already back then under iOS 6 (and probably earlier), the app was automatically checking in with the App store on a regular basis, which means as long as an iOS device has access to the internet Apple would know its OS version.

The Manage Storage screen is just where some things got moved in iOS 8, it still exists in iOS 7 just right on the Usage screen basically as I recall.

 

[iososx]

iOS 8 is really fantastic, it's a very good new OS. Stable and fast it's some of Apples best work.

 

[manu chao]

Indeed they did make a lot of mistakes back then. Mistakes/bugs are inevitable in complex software systems. The number of bugs in iOS 8 seems really high though.

'It just works' wasn't about Steve. Neither was my comment. 'It just works' was a promise and more than that, it provided internal pressure to build things really well. I miss that promise – and even though they've abandoned it – it states very clearly what I always expect from Apple.

Factoring in the human characteristic that the brain forgets bad things much more than good things, I see no real indications that iOS 8 is worse than any previous OS updates. In fact, I remember hearing after every single OS upgrade (iOS and OS X) as long as I can remember people saying that Apple isn't as good as it used to be. Either there has been a straight downward trend over the last ten to fifteen years, which would mean that Apple is much, much worse now than back in the early days of the Internet (when hearing comments from a lot of other people became possible) or this is just a perception thing based on that universal human trait.

 

[manu chao]

The Manage Storage screen is just where some things got moved in iOS 8, it still exists in iOS 7 just right on the Usage screen basically as I recall.

You are right, I was going of somebody's comment that the update shows up in that list and can be deleted.

 

[tdream]

Wow! No other company could achieve this...Almost half of all users using the latest OS in under a week!

What's so good about forced obsolescence?

Your device is designed to work optimally with whatever OS platform it was shipped with save for all the point upgrades.

If you upgrade you, slow down your device. The latest OS is always designed for the newest hardware which means if your device isn't running the same CPU/GPU, it simply won't be as smooth/fast.

2 or 3 updates later you wonder how the hell you ever managed to use this slow POS!

 

[iSee]

The Manage Storage screen is just where some things got moved in iOS 8, it still exists in iOS 7 just right on the Usage screen basically as I recall.

Yeah, that's what it looks like to me (looking at iOS 7 on an iPhone 4s and iOS 8 on an Retina iPad Mini).

Sorry, that 'Manage Storage' seems to be an iOS-8-only feature (which doesn't really help you now). Anyway, the size should be about 1 GB. It was about 970 MB on my iPhone 5 and 1.1 GB on my iPad 3.

On my iPad which is still on iOS 7, the update did not download automatically so far (but I only made enough free space a short while ago). It also shows a button labelled: 'Download and Install', implying that it requires me pressing it download. And above that it says 1.1 GB in a box.

On my iPhone it also did not start downloading on its own but then I was constantly checking for the update to show up last Wednesday so it would not have had the chance to download on its own before me actually pressing the download button myself.

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I've said this before but isn't the App Store app always automatically checking for app updates in the background by default (the only option you have is whether it also downloads and installs them automatically, not whether it checks automatically)? And before iOS 7 brought automatic app update installs, the app store app already showed a badge with the number of app updates, implying that already back then under iOS 6 (and probably earlier), the app was automatically checking in with the App store on a regular basis, which means as long as an iOS device has access to the internet Apple would know its OS version.

Thanks... I'm just trying to figure out the extent of the "automatic download" problem (if any).

On my iPhone 4s I see the "Download and Install" button referring to iOS 8, which implies it did not automatically download. I have automatic updates turned on and have been connected to my home wifi quite a but. But if it really did download something I wouldn't know because I haven't kept close track of my free space to be able to notice if 1 GB was missing.

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is:

Are the people complaining of automatic an downloads idiots/trolls?
Or are there circumstances where an unwanted automatic download of iOS 8 occurs with no way to get rid of the download.

 

[Tech198]

49%....

I'm one of them

Of course, users can't really make their own decision thee days, so they'll get hooked into reading and update just because Apple says it's better without looking at the side effects and or apps.

 

[C DM]

Yeah, that's what it looks like to me (looking at iOS 7 on an iPhone 4s and iOS 8 on an Retina iPad Mini).



Thanks... I'm just trying to figure out the extent of the "automatic download" problem (if any).

On my iPhone 4s I see the "Download and Install" button referring to iOS 8, which implies it did not automatically download. I have automatic updates turned on and have been connected to my home wifi quite a but. But if it really did download something I wouldn't know because I haven't kept close track of my free space to be able to notice if 1 GB was missing.

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is:

Are the people complaining of automatic an downloads idiots/trolls?
Or are there circumstances where an unwanted automatic download of iOS 8 occurs with no way to get rid of the download.

Yes the update can download automatically as it could for a few iOS versions now. And as of 7.1 it can actually be deleted by the users if it does download on its own.

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What's so good about forced obsolescence?

Your device is designed to work optimally with whatever OS platform it was shipped with save for all the point upgrades.

If you upgrade you, slow down your device. The latest OS is always designed for the newest hardware which means if your device isn't running the same CPU/GPU, it simply won't be as smooth/fast.

2 or 3 updates later you wonder how the hell you ever managed to use this slow POS!

2 or 3 updates later your phone is practically an ancient relic even through just hardware by the leaps of mobile technology. Yes it's a hyperbole, but the underlying point still stands.

 

[freeuser]

@MyopicPaideia
"While I agree with your general sentiment regarding an arrogant stance to older devices, with all fairness, Apple are pretty awesome at supporting their devices. They are still signing 7.1.2, and they will continue to do so and probably also continue to update and keep it signed until around this time next year."

your are kidding, I'll miss the word "should" ;-). They should sign 7.1.2 longer than their usual two weeks!!!