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

Previous iOS updates have been easy to do. iOS 8 isn't. It requires a huge amount of space to install. I had to clear almost everything from my 16GB 5S and my iPad Air to do the install. Most of my friends who are using iPhones just won't go to the trouble.

Most people consider their photos to be infinitely more valuable than a software update. If Apple wants to continue to see high adoption rates for new versions they'll need to get the install package down to a reasonable size, increase the base storage capacity of devices, or build in an additional isolated partition just for the OS and updates.

It also doesn't help that some of the features are OS X Yosemite integrated and that OS isn't out yet. Some of the most desired features, like Continuity, iCloud Drive and the integrated Photos apps, are pretty much worthless without the new Mac OS. What's the rush to do all the work to upgrade an iPhone/iPad if all the features aren't even available?

The drawback to being the most popular is that it isn't just enthusiasts using your product. Lots of non-tech savvy people are using iOS devices--which was Apple's goal--why they're fumbling this strategy so badly is unbelievable.
 
CmdrLaForge said:
I got burned before with my iPad 1 and on my iPhone 3G. Both worked perfect on iOS 3.2 and 4. 5 killed them. So I will not do that stupid mistake again. If I am not seeing 99% happiness in the forum I don't update.
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iPad 2 and iOS 7 did that for me. No way am I jumping in on an iOS upgrade ever again. The way to do it seems to be to wait for the x.1 versions, not just the rushed x.0.1 bug fixes.
 
Better is better

swingerofbirch said:
Apple will never do it but I think they should have a public equivalent to Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing Initiative. I would appreciate if Apple publicly recognized that it has a problem and made a commitment to making better software.

For my part, I am being much, much more cautious with updates than I was in the past.
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Only a fool would oppose a commitment to better software and better product integration. Everything's thin enough, now make it more quiet, more reliable, and fix the bugs in everything you make. A true "commitment to the environment" would include 10 year full replacement warranties on all products and components. Enough with the HW interface changes:

My 1913 grand piano has never needed a software update. My guitar's 1/4" jack is still compatible with my cords, which are still compatible with my amp. -There's a lesson there.
 
cgc said:
"Best product pipeline in 25 years" now means nothing but remixes and garbage products (e.g. iMac downgrade, iPod Touch downgrade, buggy iOS, MBP slight upgrade, Yosemite seems ok...nothing special, 1GB RAM in all i-i-devices, iTunes 12 is nothing special, Beats acquisition is meh, etc.). Kind of lackluster really other than the iWatch which could be interesting but it makes me reconsider my desire to stick with Apple. TIme for me to replace my MacPro and HP laptop and might just build a couple Windows boxes...unless the Mac Mini and MBP have real upgraded by 1 Dec. I'm hopeful Apple will blow me away.
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Don't you think some of those dismissals a little unfair? The iMac hasn't really been updated yet - there are strong rumours of retina iMacs coming in 9 days from today. Would a retina iMac be a show-stopping product? Yes, it would.

iOS8 is one of the biggest updates ever. Criticising is so easy, but iOS8 also brings the biggest things people have been asking for since the first iPhone. There are custom keyboards and notification centre widgets, actionable notifications, not to mention a quasi-filesystem (via iCloud Drive) with support for third-party document providers. You can finally open documents in other apps without every app getting its own copy. For business customers, that means seamless integration with sharepoint. Bugs happen - they emerge, they are fixed, new bugs are found, etc. Is iOS8 a show-stopping product? Yes, it is.

Yosemite is another big update. The UI changes aren't that enormous, historically speaking (OS X has had some really big ones, like when people on Tiger woke up to find Leopard). The best thing about it is that it draws the Mac and iOS even closer together - there's iCloud Drive, the new Photos app to replace iPhoto and Aperture, mostly the same widget and extension points on both systems, and of course Continuity/Handoff. Only with Apple can you send SMS messages from your laptop, desktop or iPad and receive calls on all of them. When you take that together with iCloud, Yosemite fits perfectly in to the role that the Mac now occupies. Is it a show-stopping product? Yes.

I don't know - to me, it seems like Apple has a pretty rocking product pipeline, and that's even before you get to the iWatch. Who on Earth can even come close to competing with them? Microsoft isn't even a contender - they just realised that Metro start screens are stupid for people at desktops. The big new feature for their next version of Windows is the return of the start menu. The only company who can really compare is Google, and Apple stacks up pretty well to them, too.
 
I wonder if this #Flatgate design that was introduced in iOS7 is causing this lacklustre wish to upgrade. While the technical issues are obviously important, we must remember that the largest demographic of users is by people who followed the "it just works" ideology, most probably because they are not computer Savy.

Other OS generations have been exciting, this one was just meh.
Take away the pomp and dazzle of previous updates and you just have another rerelease of something that looks like iOS 7 but with more reported issues.
 
Older hardware with newer iOS's get saddled with all the slowness and bugs while they do not always get all the new features trumpeted on the newer OS's. There isn't much of a motivation to upgrade. I have my iPad 3 and iPhone 4 on iOS 5, my iPhone 5 on iOS 7.1.2 and my wife's iPhone 5 on iOS 6. No plans of upgrading... ever. I learned my lesson with the original iPhone post iOS 3.
 
adoption stagnated?

maybe its because its an untested mess that breaks a lot of core functionalities like bluetooth in cars?

nah, cant be it.
 
Wish I could down grade to iOS 7

I cannot beleive all the issue I'm having with iOS 8 on my iPad 2 constant app crashes not able to orientate landscape-portrait what a pain in the a..e roll on 8.1 soonest please ! :apple:
 
I can see it now...

iOS 8 adoption slows until:

1. Apple Pay is released in iOS 8.1 this month, and

2. Apple Watch is released (because I suspect it will only work with iPhones running iOS 8.)

Remember: iOS 8 will run on iPhone 4S and later, and Apple Pay will run standalone on iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and with Apple Watch on iPhone 5 and later.
 
First of all iPhone 4s' run crapping and you need 5GB free to install. A lot of people do not have 5GB free on their 16GB and 8GB phones.
 
jcw5002 said:
Most of my friends still haven't updated. Why? They have 16GB iPhones with not enough space! (I told them about iTunes update, but that's extra work.)

If Apple really wants to drive rapid OS adoption, they need to start w/ 32GB entry level iPhones.
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If I could +1 this twice I would:)

I'm pretty sure this is the main reason for the slow adoption rate. the bugs might play a part too but as I recall ios 7 was also very buggy at the release time. Still, one other thing Apple really needs to do is slow the F down with the new operating systems. both for the ios and os x. there is really no reason to release a new os every damn year now. Plus they just can't do it and keep the quality up. It's no wonder Snow leopard is by far the best OS they've had on OS X side. it's been all downhill from there. I am rooting for Snow Yosemite and Snow iOS next year.
 
SteveW928 said:
No kidding! I thought my iPad 2 was broken the other day after restarting it. It went through the startup sequence and then went blank. I hit the power button... nothing. Hit the home button... nothing. Waited like 10 seconds, hit the power button again... nothing. Maybe 20 seconds later, the screen comes up allowing me to swipe and enter my password. Even that process is laggy.

When I do the gesture to show all apps.... it takes like 3-5 seconds before I see the effects in slo-mo and they all come up. It's not just a little slow, it's crazy slow. I'm not sure the term lag even covers it!
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Ditto.

Also: Search crashes on 8.0.2 on both my iPad Airs 128: 1-finger drag-down middle home screen, select an app it finds and ... reboot... 1 out of 3 times. Often randomly reboots when simply opening or switching apps.

8.0.2 experience: unstable, unresponsive... waiting on 8.1 ...

...& new Air 2's to see Apple thoughts on the A8 1gb ram debate, in possibly adding another gig to their processors or not. I doubt they will, but stability/usability speed is my preference over battery life, if memory is indeed the issue.
 
First update I haven't jumped on. I use to love updating immediately. Now, I just prefer my device to work flawlessly.

My iPhone 5 running 7.1.2 is working perfectly.

Unfortunately my iPhone 6 comes in a few weeks and iOS 8 it will be for me. Hopefully at least 8.0.3 will be released by then.

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Yank in UK said:
It is Worth noting that some of the lag in iOS 8 adoption may be due to the reticence of corporate IT departments to allow upgrades of their iOS devices until they can review its affect on their own internal systems and or applications which we may need to be partially rewritten to either take it advantage of iOS 8 or simply to be compatible with it.

As corporate users increasingly become a significant percentage of iOS device users, the effect of their actions on iOS adoption numbers will be increasingly significant.
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Couldn't agree more. Even small business IT departments warning their clients to stay clear of iOS 8 until the kinks are ironed out add to these numbers.
 
Has certainly been buggy. Major issues for me are:
1. Can't consistently close apps on iPad with five fingered scrunch. Sometimes it just won't work.
2. 5s just won't rotate sometimes. Really, really annoying.

Also can't update iPad 3 because it's not got enough space and I can't be stuffed connecting to my laptop.
 
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Ran iOS8 since the GM, fortunately avoided the 8.0.1 fiasco, now using 8.0.2 on 5S, rMini and 6 Plus. I've experienced a few bugs but overall it's been a great update for me. Third party keyboard implementation needs serious work though.
 
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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.
 
Maybe if you stopped selling 16 GB phones, my entire family wouldn't come to me complaning that they cant update.

Next year.. It'll happen next year.. I hope.
 
I think as well as the storage issue, people just went crazy over iOS 7 because of its whole new design.

I'd like to compare this with adoption rates between iOS 5 and iOS 6.
 
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.
 
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