iOS 8 Now Installed on Over Half of Active iOS Devices

[jamezr]

I know people moan because Apple forces users to upgrade, but this is still impressive.

Are there any other platforms which have this many users on the latest version?

The data analysis is skewed.....the sampling is from users who went to the App store. What if they think their iDevice is working just fine and do not want any new apps? The people that routinely visit the app store are the people more inclined to keep their software current and look for more apps. What if they have no need to go to the app store? They get excluded from these numbers......so the percentages look higher than they actually are.

 

[thekeyring]

We're at 8.1 now after a month and a half, and we still have:
- Unorganized events in photos, yanked iPhoto app
- Terrible battery life
- Botched continuity rollout for those with older Macs, I know how dare we not upgrade our Macs every 3 years.
- Syncing issues for those choosing to be old school and sync our music library w/ iTunes. You have to re-enable manually choosing songs and videos after iOS 8 upgrade.
- That whole E.T. thing between Tim Cook and Bono

As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing to party over. This is still a buggy mess.

iCloud Photos is in Beta. You can still use Photo Stream and iPhoto on a Mac as before to organise photos & sync events.

I haven't heard any iPhone owners complain about battery life either IRL or online, other than you.

With continuity, they ensure all Macs that have the necessary technology will work. True, you can add bluetooth dongles, etc yourself, but had they opened it up to ALL Macs, you could moan about them allowing a shoddy user experience with older machines. It's not about forcing you to buy a new Mac.

I personally sync my music with iTunes as <10% of it is purchased from the iTunes store. So you have to untick "Sync all Music" and "Sync all Videos"? Not exactly rocket science when you use iTunes to manage your iPhone anyway.

Hardly a "buggy mess".

 

[Patriot24]

They can. Its very simple. All they have to do is support older software as well as hardware instead of slowly dropping features for them who don't update. People are having to choose between losing features and services or dealing with a slow and laggy handset and personally I don't find it fair one bit.

But Apple has never shown an interest in giving people true legacy support. As soon as the successor for any software they develop is released, the old one is pretty much instantly forgotten about. So I guess its an issue you have to accept if you're buying Apple. After a few updates your device will be slow.

That's because legacy support is a major bag of hurt. Anyone that has ever worked at a software company knows how terrible it is for everyone involved - including users.

On paper it sounds wonderful. In reality it leads to poor choices and user experience. You can't move forward when you're constantly dragging the boat anchor that is older versions of your products and services.

Most people upgrade their device every two years, so Apple has made a calculated bet in the name of agility and rapid forward progress. So far it has worked out pretty well for them and the vast majority users.

 

[Wegee]

I think that this could be the beginning of the ios fragmentation. Maybe not at android levels, but we'll see the next years.

There are so many old devices that still works well today - and probably for another year or two - that the upgrade with lastest feat. vs the risk of compromising the usability is not appealing anymore. Especially if the majority of people see just minor improvements from one ios to another.

People are finally starting to understand what planned obsolescence is, and they think twice before upgrade a device without testing the software. Also there's the limited space available on the entry level 16gb devices, but I'm sure just a part of the whole problem.

 

[Patriot24]

People are finally starting to understand what planned obsolescence is, and they think twice before upgrade a device without testing the software. Also there's the limited space available on the entry level 16gb devices, but I'm sure just a part of the whole problem.

There is a big difference between planned obsolescence and innovating at a rapid pace such that some older devices can't keep up with the hardware and computing requirements.

I don't think any of us want iOS to become a scenario where Apple is purposefully holding back features and functionality for the sake of it working on every device ever created.

"It is a lame release, but works on every active device!" is not utopia.

 

[Wegee]

There is a big difference between planned obsolescence and innovating at a rapid pace such that some older devices can't keep up with the hardware and computing requirements.

I don't think any of us want iOS to become a scenario where Apple is purposefully holding back features and functionality for the sake of it working on every device ever created.

"It is a lame release, but works on every active device!" is not utopia.

Well, I'm not saying that they need to slow down innovation, but the problem I see here is that lately this area of products that works better without the lastest features is getting bigger, because this (improvement? poor implementation?) is now having a real cost in usability, and not only in the oldest devices.

Yes, I know IT world is like this since decades, but IT it's also so diversified that the real utopia is keep everyone updated and happy.
Here we are talking about devices on which Apple as total knowledge and control, it's not like microsoft that needs to release the minimum requirements for its windows for pc...

So why apple release an update that can't keep with old hardware? (i.e. ios 7 on ip4, ios 7 and 8 in ipad 2, and 3, etc). So your device become unusable and you'll buy the new one, nothing wrong with that, but let's be honest, this is programmed obsolescence plain and simple.
Make this ios works better on old device, or simply don't release it. A non released upgrade don't make your device slower, just older, this is the difference. Of course it's not that they are forcing you, but come on, want to be honest with your customer? Make a disclaimer: this will make your device slower, not just advice the missing features.

 

[h4ck]

alternate title: iOS8 jailbreak was released.

 

[rsocal]

Well, I'm not saying that they need to slow down innovation, but the problem I see here is that lately this area of products that works better without the lastest features is getting bigger, because this (improvement? poor implementation?) is now having a real cost in usability, and not only in the oldest devices.

Yes, I know IT world is like this since decades, but IT it's also so diversified that the real utopia is keep everyone updated and happy.
Here we are talking about devices on which Apple as total knowledge and control, it's not like microsoft that needs to release the minimum requirements for its windows for pc...

So why apple release an update that can't keep with old hardware? (i.e. ios 7 on ip4, ios 7 and 8 in ipad 2, and 3, etc). So your device become unusable and you'll buy the new one, nothing wrong with that, but let's be honest, this is programmed obsolescence plain and simple.
Make this ios works better on old device, or simply don't release it. A non released upgrade don't make your device slower, just older, this is the difference. Of course it's not that they are forcing you, but come on, want to be honest with your customer? Make a disclaimer: this will make your device slower, not just advice the missing features.

My answer to this would be, you and all the other people that feel the same, would get upset about leaving you out of updates.

I would also like to know how far should apple go back, should they make sure Yosemite works on the Apple 1 & 2, or iOS 8 on the first iPhone?

I'm not trying to be sarcastic or a smart ass, just trying to point out how this is a no win situation for any tech company, when 2yrs ago is considered old with all tech.

Please don't take this as an insult. If it comes off that way I am sorry.

 

[Col4bin]

Your 6 you mean? Our 6's are all fine here...

To be honest I did have an issue originally with not being able to connect to App Store - I did a clean install from iTunes then did a restore from cloud back up on the phone and it sorted out issues.

Yosemite was very slick update process - not one program issue at all. Install and update in about 20 mins on a MacPro

Again, wifi issues on my iphone 6, that 8.1 supposedly corrected.

Happy your Yosemite install went well, though.

 

[kuwxman]

you exaggerate. How many million of people...and only a small percent are bitching....like you

I apologize about your panties being in a bunch. Personally, I'm not using iOS 8/8.1...however my wife is and she hates it. I am, however, using the Lollipop Developer Preview and it is more stable than iOS 8/8.1. Ouch.

 

[Parasprite]

We're at 8.1 now after a month and a half, and we still have:
- Terrible battery life
- Syncing issues for those choosing to be old school and sync our music library w/ iTunes. You have to re-enable manually choosing songs and videos after iOS 8 upgrade.

I won't speak for the others but...

Out of curiosity, which device are you getting terrible battery life with? In my own case, my Air and 4S have much better battery life than on 7.1.2 (although admittedly the 4S does run a great deal slower).

I'm really not sure what you mean by the second point here. I have only ever synced my music with iTunes (manually choosing artists) and I didn't notice anything happen. The only thing close to syncing issues I had was with Photos where some of the cache or something poisoned the library and resulted in a lot of undeletable duplicates (interestingly the easiest fix was enabling iCloud Photos Beta, letting it delete my library, and turning it off).

 

[melendezest]

This whole metric is pointless. Pure marketing BS.

You cannot choose which version to be on. Apple basically forces the upgrades to the current version on you.

It would only be impressive if Apple allowed users to (at least) have the OS version that came with their device.

 

[Max(IT)]

I remember people saying the same thing about iOS 7.

... and iOS 6, and 5....

----------

Since iOS 8, including 8.1, I hate Apple .
Both my iPhone 5S and iPhone 5 are restarting whenever you need them more, i hate it too much now to detail all the problems, but here are some:
iPhone 5s:
- always restarts after few seconds when connecting to Pioneer car player USB port, did not before 8
- sometimes camera stops video recording, or locks, or focuses every 3 seconds in loop on video, not being able to start recording
- phone app sometimes locks playing the keypad DTMF tone until it self restarts

iPhone 5:
- phone shuts down randomly when battery level is below 30%, displays battery low at 28%

I'm seriously considering to leave Apple boat, even if I invested in more Apple devices building a hopefully working ecosystem.
I think that Steve is twisting in his grave by now considering the how bad things turned with all the latest Apple decisions.

My iPhone 5S runs flawlessly with iOS 8.1, without any of the issues you are reporting, so either you have a corrupted installation or a conflict in the software configuration.
The issue about iPhone 5 battery is widely known as related to defective batteries, so you can have your replaced by Apple.

----------

Connect you iOS 8.1 device to your home network and start walking away from the router until the signal strength drops to 1-2 bars. Now, disconnect the WiFi and try to reconnect it...
Yup, the sh.t will ask for your WiFi password and will never recognize it until you walk back closer to your router.

It doesn't happen on my iPhone nor on my iPad air....

 

[Jimmy James]

Installed on half.
Pushed to nearly all of them.

 

[manu chao]

It existed for awhile now because they never bother to fix the freaking bug.

I report them all and they still haven't got through it.

It is not a single bug, it is multiple bugs in multiple apps. Some of it might bugs in the OS proper, but every app can potentially contribute to this. The same as every application on a desktop OS can accumulate cache and log files that can be hard to find by the user.

 

[Max(IT)]

Serious question, is it safe to update now? I've been waiting for weeks, still on iOS 7.

I had some glitches on 8, and 8.0.2, minor issues to be honest, but absolutely nothing about iOS 8.1

The only annoying bug I had so far is some album covers missing on my music library, even if they are present on my iTunes library (all original songs, most bought on iTunes store).

----------

Source?

Apple Basher Holy Crusade

----------

They foolishly trusted that their Apple stuff would just work.

This was the last time I'll be an early adopter unless things change dramatically in Cupertino. My iPhone has 8.1, but when I updated my Air, I reverted to 7.1.2 in less than 24 hours, while I still could. And just forget installing Yosemite on my two Macs. Since Apple gave one last finger to Mac Mini owners by turning off the handoff/continuity features in the 2011 Mini, there's nothing interesting in the new OS for me anyway.

Foolishly? My iDevices just works. Period.
If you have a different experience, I'm sorry about you, but my iPad air is running iOS 8.1 flawlessly.

----------

Basically, you have a fracking ego the size of a mountain and spend your time here congratulating yourself on your "cleverness". So bravo for spending your precious time "educating" us poor lost souls (sic); hope you won't regret that time on your deathbed. Would shake your hand I am just too busy getting off on my Apple products.

Good post.
+1

I'm very happy to be a fool Apple user, very satisfied by my user experience.
Don't like Apple products? Just get another brand. And there are many forums about Android on the net.......
We don't need someone educating us here.

 

[venomgt95]

am i one of the only ones here still in that 5%?

 

[The Economist]

iOS 8's installation numbers have increased approximately four percent

4% or 4 points?

 

[billg55]

14 percent of iOS devises in use can not upgrade to iOS 8

I believe 14% is currently accurate. That will of course go down as more new devises are sold and older devises retired. However, iOS 8 can never get to 100%. It would paint a more accurate picture if you had a slice of pie to represent those devises which can not be upgraded, or have a chart of eligible devises only.

 

[bassfreak]

as one said, your 5 sounds like a new battery (sucks, but happens).. and did you update via wifi/LTE at any point? lots of the people i knew with camera bugs did this instead of via iTunes.

Yes, both updated via WiFi..

I had the same iPhone 5 battery problems you describe, then read about the battery replacement program earlier this summer (https://www.apple.com/support/iphone5-battery/). Since they replaced the battery, I've had none of the previous issues, and the phone will stay on until 1% or less.

Thanks, already checked it some time ago by the serial and it did not seem to qualify for the battery replacement program. Should I try asking for a free replacement even if it does not qualify ?

 

[Parasprite]

4% or 4 points?

4 points on a 100 point scale.

...okay it's 4%

 

[bawbac]

The other half can't upgrade because their Apple HW is obsolete after 2 years.

 

[Parasprite]

am i one of the only ones here still in that 5%?

I've compiled a list from this thread for your convenience:

Still running iOS 6 and 7.1.2 here. Will do so for as long as I can. Each iOS update gets worse.

It has nothing at all about being stubborn, 3GS can't got beyond 6. I'm still using that phone. See, you do know someone like that. When stocks of 6+ finallly are not as tights by years end, I probably going to get the 6+.

My iPhone 3GS is still on iOS 6.1.6, do you have a problem with that?

Ha Ha! I am one of the 5% of iOS users out there! I have an iPad 1 running iOS 5, and 2 iPhone 3Gsssssssss (pluralizing anything with an S is annoying anyway, so I go with a snake sound) running iOS 6. Awesome.

...a few potential contacts:

8.1 on my 5S, wife's 6, and my rMini2.
No problems at all - and liking the feature improvements too.
Sounds like some people have had problems.
But also some - like me - have not.

Yeah my mum on her iPhone 4. She saw iOS 7 on my aunts iPhone 4 and said no way. I cannot really argue with her either as iOS 6 does look nicer.

...and this one too, technically.

I'd also like to know how many of those ineligible devices are still active. I have a 4th-gen iPod Touch that is stuck on iOS 6. If I could upgrade it to iOS 8, I'd still be using it. But since I can't, it is sitting in a drawer right now.

 

[Max(IT)]

No, he really isn't. Apple has completely changed. The transition is almost complete. And they are smart as hell, as it seems like it's paying off to completely abandon long-time users and go for the mass market with disposable items.

But hey, I concede this is a matter of perspective.

If you enjoy Apple, then more power to you.

It's just that I need more than an appliance, and Apple has exited out of the market. I now have to hunt older hardware down, because neither their new hardware nor their new software let me do what I want, like it used to.

And there is still nothing in the competing market that is comparable. I have to have magsafe, their multitouch implementation, their multiple desktop setup, the uber-easy access to components for upgrades/repairs.

So, hackingtosh + Android it is. Yosemite and iOS are a full-on, HELL NO for me.

It's completely YOUR problem, since I'm entitled to call myself a long time user (maybe longer than you, being an Apple user since 1989) and I'm totally satisfied with Apple policy. They are not doing everything right, for sure, but perfection is out of this world.
Surely Android isn't a better solution for me. Not even close...

 

[bassfreak]

That sounds horrible. Personally I am not experiencing any of those issues on our iPhone 5, iPhone 6 or iPod Touch. Even though it is quite a bit of work, I would try to wipe the device(s) and do a clean install (not even restore from a backup, but do it all, all over). Maybe it is worth a try?

Yes, this will be the last thing I'll try with the 5S. Thanks!