iOS 8 Adoption Stagnates Just Two and a Half Weeks After Launch

[jozero]

Almost every non-technical person I know can't update since they don't have the space.

Also Apple's messaging around iCloud storage and how its used for backups, and what is backed up is confusing as heck. *No one* understands it, including my technical friends.

 

[AlecZ]

Thanks for all you who are public beta testers for iOS 8!

Big hand for those true pioneers who are beta testing iOS8 in iPhone 4S and iPad 2.

Please report back when iOS8 is ready for proper release.

There are people here who publicly denounce anyone who stays on iOS 7 rather than updating, calling us "idiots" and such. This is the perfect response to that.

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Almost every non-technical person I know can't update since they don't have the space.

I don't understand the problem. Can't they just connect the phones to computers running iTunes, or do you mean that it's because iOS 8 takes more space after installation (which I've heard it does)?

 

[yegon]

I should have said in landscape mode. My bad. It works correctly in portrait.

Crikey yeah, you're right! That is annoying. Not noticed it as I rarely/never use it in landscape.

 

[mikecorp]

Sloooooooow

everything is slow, not happy Update soon

 

[Tech198]

most users are on iOS7 ..??. no way...

What forced them ? I would guess Apple

If Apple never stop signing i would bet this would have been different easy, but the fact is, when u need to restore, u have no choice

Looks like tie, but i'll never be one of those people that updates to iOS8.

I'll go kicking & screaming if they want me to *pouts* Bring it on Apple. I just know i'll have to eventually when i need to restore, so seems Apple's got me tired...

 

[Colin20]

No surprise

I have had many problems with ios8 compared to others. From WiFi disconnects, to mail issues. This IOS has not been nearly as good as others in the past.

 

[Merkie]

I think there are two main reasons for people not updating:

1. Apple continues to insult their customers by selling crappy 8GB and 16GB phones which don't have enough storage space when you actually use it for OTA updating.

2. The iPhone 4 is still out there in large numbers, they cannot upgrade to iOS 8.

 

[randomgeeza]

iOS 8 is the worse iOS to be released, I made the mistake of downloading right away, If I had the chance again I would have stayed on iOS 7.

There is still lag on iOS 8, just changing apps, scrolling, tabs, even when you plug your phone in with the Apple wall charger there is a 2-3 second delay before you see the battery icon to show it's charging, I never had any delay with iOS 7, the moment I plugged it into the charger it pinged that battery sound and was charging now there is a 2-3 second delay. There is lag in places there shouldn't be. I feel like Apple made us testers....I can't wait for 8.1 to fix these issues. Then there is the synch problems with iTunes, just too many issues.

I long for iOS 6 not just for the colors or look but for how buttery smooth it was, it was perfection in my opinion.

Exact same experience and exactly the same thoughts on 6 vs 7 vs 8.

Thankfully I managed to get my devices back to 7.1.2, before the door closed.

 

[Merkie]

There are people here who publicly denounce anyone who stays on iOS 7 rather than updating, calling us "idiots" and such. This is the perfect response to that.

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I don't understand the problem. Can't they just connect the phones to computers running iTunes, or do you mean that it's because iOS 8 takes more space after installation (which I've heard it does)?

I know a lot of people with iPhones, and I think I'm pretty much the only one who has iTunes even installed.

 

[tech3475]

I choose to stay on ios 7 on my air because I can't downgrade back if I have problems with ios 8.

If Apple continued to allow signing for 7.1.2 I'd have probably given it a go but otherwise I'll be waiting for ios 8 to become more consistently reliable.

My dad's iphone 4 though is stuck at 7 and he has no intention of replacing it.

 

[terraphantm]

I'm not too surprised. I work in a hospital and a lot of people know I'm an Apple nerd so they all asked about the update. To summarize; most didn't know you could update from the computer (I guess they forgot from the old days �� ) others didn't want to delete their apps and photos to do the update and the rest didn't want to because they heard about all kinds of issues from coworkers.

In the old days, I knew of people who just never updated. They just assumed they'd have to get the new iPhone for new software

Almost every non-technical person I know can't update since they don't have the space.

This too. Everyone I know chose not to upgrade because of the space issues. Apple needs to let the update happen in smaller chunks or something

 

[bekiil]

"Upgrading" to iOS 8 was a bummer
Wish i could go back to 6/7

 

[baryon]

For the iPhone 4S, sticking with iOS 7 is the best option. Upgrading is also dangerous as you cannot downgrade.

 

[Tech198]

I think there are two main reasons for people not updating:

1. Apple continues to insult their customers by selling crappy 8GB and 16GB phones which don't have enough storage space when you actually use it for OTA updating.

2. The iPhone 4 is still out there in large numbers, they cannot upgrade to iOS 8.

what about 3. Apps (particularly older apps which haven't been updated in a while crash on iOS 8, but which work just fine on 7.

and 4. No need for iOS8 specific features, and not interested in any.

 

[xmichaelp]

Bugs aside. Most of the people I know, family included, just don't care. A few on IOS 6, most IOS 7.1.1 or earlier. What ever came on their iphone? Hell, some I know are still running Snow Leopard on their Macs, when they can still update to Mavericks for free. Soon to be Yosemite for free. They just can't be bothered. Don't get it.

Perhaps Apple should stay on iOS 8 and 10.10 for two years and perfect them. Now that OS X has the redesign I was looking for I don't see myself jumping to every new update like before.

 

[paulhoad]

Adoption Rates

I know myself and my family have ipod touch 4s and iphone 4 they haven't been able to upgrade to ios7 and/or ios8, this is a real shame because those devices aren't even that old, (only 2-3 years or so)

I struggle to believe the adoption rates, I still think there are a lot of devices stuck on ios6 and possibly more than the 6% they say.

I am sure there are hardware or performance reasons but it feels like bad service from Apple if your device can't keep pace. (and why replace a perfectly good device)

That pie chart is beginning to look like the Android one they show'd a couple of events ago!

 

[nick42983]

honestly i don't see the rush on a 4S.

I think people with older devices are getting smart and not upgrading, thus the slow adoption. iOS8 isn't terrible on my 4S, but the camera and other apps have gotten laggier (along with some crashes) to the point where I wish I hadn't upgraded.

If they're going to artificially limit the feature set for older devices, even if they can support said features, they should at least make it run smoothly. For a company that prides itself on user experience these annual iOS update problems are one of the main blemishes on their record.

 

[Em8ch]

No problems with iOS 8.0.2 on my iPhone 5, but on my iPad Air, Safari is definitely not snappier, and YouTube videos in Safari won't play, otherwise no major problems encountered.

 

[haydn!]

Surely though, after Apple continued to sell the 4 and 4S extensively after their original launch dates, and because they're both still hugely popular in and used un abundance but barely support iOS8, adoption was always going to slow at some point?

 

[macgabe]

I barely noticed the upgrade on my 5S. I installed the first version immediately, seemed to work OK, then skipped the second (801?) with all the bug talk, and a after a while updated to the latest.

Can't remember needing to delete anything but I might have done - always a load of rubbish that collects in iPhoto. Also threw away a bunch of apps I'm never going to use again.

But I didn't press my Mum to upgrade (4S) because last time (iOS 7) it seemed to slow down the phone and reduce battery life.

Haven't noticed any difference with iOS 8 itself other than health kit, which is good for counting steps. The only difference outside that I've noticed is 1password which now has fingerprint login, which is very cool. Plus I've deleted some apps that don't seem to work any more.

 

[dragje]

This is the result of a really bad release. No iOS release comes without issues, including OS releases. But the amount of bugs in the latest releases are staggering. Apple really did a bad job here, some of the really bad issues have been revolved, but a whole list of frustrating issues remains.

In fact, it's fair to state that iOS8 is less stabile then 7 on this moment. I'm definitely going to wait a few months with updating to Yosemite.

 

[SSDGUY]

honestly i don't see the rush on a 4S.

I went ahead and upgraded my 4S. Big mistake. Runs like a slug now and I can't go back. Pissed.

 

[Tech198]

I went ahead and upgraded my 4S. Big mistake. Runs like a slug now and I can't go back. Pissed.

..and this is probably the thing.

Apple pushes iOS versions to all devices, then says "not all features may be available."

What they *don't* tell you in how slow it will be ... and they should give u an indication, since they test it otherwise they wouldn't say its available for an older device.

Such luck, i'm guessing users are on their own, since Apple only really supports those of that have the latest and greatest..... if u have an older device, its like sweeping dirt under a rug. They don't wanna know, since the first words are "Can we make u upgrade ?"

 

[SSDGUY]

Users of iPhone 4 ad 4s have been warned to not upgrade to iOS 8 because it will slow their devices. It was also recommended that they at least wait for version 8.1 (lie was the case when upgrading to 7)

Perhaps this is the reason for the slow rate of adoption - there are still many many users with 4 and 4s out there.

Who warned them? Apple? I didn't see it.

 

[576316]

An over-the-air update is a tough sell on 8GB or 16GB devices – lots of people wouldn't want to delete photos and apps to make way for a software update.

It's just the fact that the software shouldn't have been asking for so much empty space before an install. In most cases it seemed to be pulling random figures out of the air and asking users to make sure that amount of space was empty. It just wasn't necessary. Considering the update was available for the 8GB iPhone 4, that's like half of the user's data before being able to install the update.

Apple can't lead this computer-less era if they're asking users to delete a bunch of stuff before installing an update. The update was only like 1GB big but was asking for as much as 6.5GB of free space before an update was performed!