Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I've often wondered about those adoption numbers, do they account for folks like me, who updated to 8 on my iPad 2, found the experience unsatisfying, and reverted back to 7.1.2?

Or, do the stats show one more happy, satisfied iOS 8 user?

Also, what about all the iPhone 6 users who have no choice in the matter? Are they included in the 8 adoption figure?

Not trying to be argumentative, just curious.

By the way, I am running 8 on iPhone 5 and, after 8.0.2 seems fine, except battery seems to drain more quickly than on 7.1.2.

Battery issues seem endemic to every new release since IOS 6.
 
I agree with this also, if they are going to keep adding toys to the OS to amuse everyone, then take the time to make sure it works before releasing it.

The issue with Windows releases (it used to be said) was there are a ridiculous number of combinations of hardware on which the OS is expected to run; Apple doesn't have that excuse, there are a limited number of hardware configurations available, all fairly tightly controlled by Apple, with which the software must be compatible. Seems odd for there to be so many bugs.....

I've been happy, overall, with my Apple products but it does seem like there has been an overall decline in QC, especially software wise, lately.

Healthkit and other iOS 8 issues asside the biggest complaints I have seen on all iOS devices using 8.0.x seem to be the WIFI issue (yes there are other issues and 8.0.x bugs but this is the biggie). A quick poll I did showed about 5-10 iPads, iPhone 5s's and 20 percent iPhone 6's having WIFI issues. That may be high as those having problems are posting more of course. That issue seems to be the one area Apple has less control as the number of WIFI routers the iOS devices and iOS 8.0.x has to deal with. And it seems it is having problems even with some Airport routers, so I think it is configuration of routers, age of routers and if they have latest WIFI firmware updates or if they are simply too old to deal with what the WIFI chips combined with iOS 8.0.x are doing and you do have a complexity of issues that Apple does not have control over. A microcosm of issues like Microsoft in the WIFI arena if you will?

My iPad air and iPhone 6 plus have no problems in my home environment but I have a Airport Extreme I have tweaked over the year (and in previous routers) to work best an it seems fine with my new iPhone and the new iOS. At work where there is a third party access point connecting to our firewall and our high speed fiber internet provider (I help with IT) and all is well there but again the setup is done in an strong apple environment and our lead IT folks have all the stuff tweaked to work well with Apple products first and foremost.

In other environments (home where user just takes the default settings of a low cost third party router, businesses like my doctors office where the firewall blocks my email on all my iOS devices no matter the iOS, and a myriad of other router and settings) I think you are gonna see this WIFI issue like it has been seen before.

----------

iOS 8 has been solid for me. I've run into a couple bugs with the lock screen (won't swipe up for camera) but otherwise good. The 8.0.1 update was pretty terrible. I'm really not sure how that happened, but I'm not all that willing to say Apple lost its way because of it.

There are some things the article I agree with, such as the iPhoto comment. Photos app for Mac needs to be released yesterday (Though I have no complaints about iTunes). And I would say that the yearly cycle is causing Apple headaches. They either need to slow down, or get a bigger or better (or both) team together. Though this really only applies to iOS for me. I haven't had any issues with OS X at all. Yosemite is running swimmingly for me.

I am more there, I have not even had lock screen bugs, WIFI is rock solid for me. And I saw the 8.0.2 issues and waited a few days on 8.0.2 but it is rock solid for me and actually improved the WIFI speeds on my iPad air and iPhone 6 plus. That yearly rush cycle is more of the problem and why they need to fix alot of stuff in the x.1 and x.2 iOS and OSX releases all the time.

----------

I agree with the general thrust of the article that Apple might be trying to do too much at once, and changing things for sake of change.

People though seem to be forgetting just how massive a change iOS 8 is under-the-hood. It might not look like much because the UI changes are minor compared to iOS 7, but introducing extensions, 4,000 new APIs, continuity features, and a new programming language is not a minor undertaking.

iOS 7 was the big user-facing change, while iOS 8 is the big developer-facing change. The 64-bit transition was the big under-the-hood change with iOS 7, and 64-bit devices indeed crashed twice as often. On my 5s, iOS 8 is much more stable than iOS 7 was upon release. In terms of stability and performance, it's now easily on par with 7.1.2. But, iOS 8 also seems to have more headscratching changes and random bugs (e.g., the reported Bluetooth and wi-fi issues).

Might not be possible given how quickly the mobile market is evolving, but Apple might need to do the equivalent of a Snow Leopard update (i.e., "zero new features"), and take a step back in order to focus on tightening up the OS so that it runs faster and more reliably. They've already done a lot of heavy lifting with the 64-bit transition and adding a long list of new features and capabilities.

With OS X, Apple did not follow any fixed schedule for a long time. That allowed the software to bake until it was at a certain level of readiness. Putting both OS X and iOS on parallel annual cycles is a precarious high wire act, and buggy releases might be the not-so-surprising outcome of letting external demands dictate the schedule.

This is a good analyses of where things are. Your statement: "But, iOS 8 also seems to have more headscratching changes and random bugs (e.g., the reported Bluetooth and wi-fi issues)." is spot on. This is the bugs that most users are complaining about and if you are bit by this one it is a real pain especially new/inexperienced users of the iPhone 6's especially. Even there it seems 3/4's of us are not having the issues but the group that is is vocal and leads to alot of pain and complains on many forums.
 
6 has been one of the better numbers for Apple. OS X 10.6 is still hailed as the most stable, useable version of the OS, and iOS 6 was the same.

Change for change's sake is a mistake.

ios6 was stable because it brought practically nothing new to the iPhone. We had Google Maps swapped with Apple Maps, which had its share of problems in the beginning. Apart from this, the other new features were fairly lacklustre. Offhand, I can only recall 3g FaceTime (which I hardly ever used), do not disturb mode and the ability to decline calls with canned messages. Overall, I felt that ios6 was the weakest release in iOS history.

Likewise, ios7 wasn't a change for the sake of change. I believe the visual overhaul was necessary to enable the new features that came in ios8 (and which will likely come in ios9 and beyond). You can keep living in the past if you want; I feel ios7+ is a much needed overhaul for iOS.
 
I've often wondered about those adoption numbers, do they account for folks like me, who updated to 8 on my iPad 2, found the experience unsatisfying, and reverted back to 7.1.2?

Or, do the stats show one more happy, satisfied iOS 8 user?

Also, what about all the iPhone 6 users who have no choice in the matter? Are they included in the 8 adoption figure?

Not trying to be argumentative, just curious.

By the way, I am running 8 on iPhone 5 and, after 8.0.2 seems fine, except battery seems to drain more quickly than on 7.1.2.

I believe its a moving number based on the stats for the day they were taken. So if many people upgrade, it'll move the number up. If many downgrade it'll move the number down.

As far as the 6 users, it definitely counts them. Which is why the number jumps so greatly in the beginning, then the curve starts to level off.
 
Lately Microsoft's beta releases have been less buggy than Apple's GM's. I don't know what Apple should do to fix it, but they need to do something.

Likewise, ios7 wasn't a change for the sake of change. I believe the visual overhaul was necessary to enable the new features that came in ios8 (and which will likely come in ios9 and beyond). You can keep living in the past if you want; I feel ios7+ is a much needed overhaul for iOS.

If your features are that tightly coupled to the UI layer, you're writing the OS wrong.
 
Lately Microsoft's beta releases have been less buggy than Apple's GM's. I don't know what Apple should do to fix it, but they need to do something.



If your features are that tightly coupled to the UI layer, you're writing the OS wrong.


Maybe not tightly coupled, but the new ui refresh does allow for new app designs which emphasize content, colour and clarity. It gave developers the perfect opportunity to start all over again and and redesign their apps (often for the better). App extensions no longer look out of place now that they share a consistent design language, for one.

I do find to be cleaner and generally better looking compared to pre-ios7. I honestly don't think I can go back to using the older version of iOS now. Ios7 was the bitter pill we needed to swallow for ios8 to happen, and I am not sorry for it. :)
 
ios6 was stable because it brought practically nothing new to the iPhone. We had Google Maps swapped with Apple Maps, which had its share of problems in the beginning.

Wasn't it 6 that had the wretched bug that knocked out wifi for some iPhone users (me included). Remember people putting their phones in the freezer?
 
Wasn't it 6 that had the wretched bug that knocked out wifi for some iPhone users (me included). Remember people putting their phones in the freezer?


Don't recall any wifi problems. I do recall a fair amount of complaints from my iphone4-using friends though, as ios6 made their phones feel significantly slower, while also denying them a significant number of features, from turn-by-turn to 3G FaceTime to Siri and even panorama.
 
This is a good analyses of where things are. Your statement: "But, iOS 8 also seems to have more headscratching changes and random bugs (e.g., the reported Bluetooth and wi-fi issues)." is spot on. This is the bugs that most users are complaining about and if you are bit by this one it is a real pain especially new/inexperienced users of the iPhone 6's especially. Even there it seems 3/4's of us are not having the issues but the group that is is vocal and leads to alot of pain and complains on many forums.

Significant bugs that affect 1/4 of users aren't good; as you note, it leads to a lot of pain. Better testing and more time in beta should have found those. (The just plain stupid changes are another issue.)

----------

Don't recall any wifi problems. I do recall a fair amount of complaints from my iphone4-using friends though, as ios6 made their phones feel significantly slower, while also denying them a significant number of features, from turn-by-turn to 3G FaceTime to Siri and even panorama.

Here's the thread
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4313031?start=300&tstart=0
Almost 800 replies and 340,000 views.
 
Significant bugs that affect 1/4 of users aren't good; as you note, it leads to a lot of pain. Better testing and more time in beta should have found those. (The just plain stupid changes are another issue.)

----------





Here's the thread

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4313031?start=300&tstart=0

Almost 800 replies and 340,000 views.


Well, regardless, ios6 went quite smoothly for my 4s. Don't recall experiencing any bugs or issues.
 
I believe its a moving number based on the stats for the day they were taken. So if many people upgrade, it'll move the number up. If many downgrade it'll move the number down.

As far as the 6 users, it definitely counts them. Which is why the number jumps so greatly in the beginning, then the curve starts to level off.

That's the fun of statistics, you can use it to slant the data your way.

Not being a statistician, IMO, I don't think the iPhone 6 users should be counted in 'adoption' since they have no real choice in the matter; if you bought the phone, you are locked into iOS 8.

The adoption figure should only include consumers with legacy devices that are eligible for the upgrade (i.e. - iPhone 4S to 5S and iPad 2 on up to the Air).

And, wouldn't it be fun to know the % of people who installed 8 and downgraded back to 7? Bet you won't see that figure anywhere.

And not just Apple, but any OS (e.g. - OS X, Windows, whatever Android's OS is called).
 
Don't recall any wifi problems. I do recall a fair amount of complaints from my iphone4-using friends though, as ios6 made their phones feel significantly slower, while also denying them a significant number of features, from turn-by-turn to 3G FaceTime to Siri and even panorama.

iOS 6 sped a heap of my friend's iPhone 4's up. My 4 was very snappy on iOS 6. It also sped up my 3GS!!

Thats not to say there weren't issues, but my personal experience of iOS 6 across a 3GS, 4, iPad 2 and iPod Touch 4 was pretty damn good!
 
iOS 6 sped a heap of my friend's iPhone 4's up. My 4 was very snappy on iOS 6. It also sped up my 3GS!!



Thats not to say there weren't issues, but my personal experience of iOS 6 across a 3GS, 4, iPad 2 and iPod Touch 4 was pretty damn good!


Again, I can only speak from anecdotal evidence. And what I saw was that my friend's iPhone 4 and 3GS slowed down noticeably. Maybe it was also the age of the phones, but everything seemed to take just that bit longer to run than they should.
 
Again, I can only speak from anecdotal evidence. And what I saw was that my friend's iPhone 4 and 3GS slowed down noticeably. Maybe it was also the age of the phones, but everything seemed to take just that bit longer to run than they should.

Strange. I know a lot of people who had major lagging issues in iOS 5 on the 4 and 3GS and the update fixed them. Reviews from the time suggested the same again, but I guess its different for everyone.
 
That's the fun of statistics, you can use it to slant the data your way.

Not being a statistician, IMO, I don't think the iPhone 6 users should be counted in 'adoption' since they have no real choice in the matter; if you bought the phone, you are locked into iOS 8.

The adoption figure should only include consumers with legacy devices that are eligible for the upgrade (i.e. - iPhone 4S to 5S and iPad 2 on up to the Air).

And, wouldn't it be fun to know the % of people who installed 8 and downgraded back to 7? Bet you won't see that figure anywhere.

And not just Apple, but any OS (e.g. - OS X, Windows, whatever Android's OS is called).

Ahhh, this is so true of statistics. This is why I don't get too ruffled by any statistic. The only one that matters to me, is the number I count for in the statistics. Does it matter that 10,000 people have issues with iOS8 (OH NO!! TERRIBLE), or that 99.99% of iOS8 users are fine? Personally I've had some minor wi-fi issues. But that's the issue I have, with my usage. I really hope Apple resolves the issues people are having, and I'm sure they will.

Truth is, issues will happen. The most closed systems I can think of at the moment are ones like PlayStation and Xbox. SINGLE console, the same memory, same processor, same ports, same frequencies... yet MANY games come out needing updates of some sort. Even huge developers like Blizzard and Microsoft themselves. How is it possible for those come out with bugs? But they do.

For me, I expect a few issues. Most importantly for me is how well, and how quickly a company resolves them.
 
I like the way it's working and this yearly cycle. And rather like 8.0.2.

Since a monkey can do this job you are implying its a shoe in. Have you thought about applying to Apple so you can guide them with your experience?

----------



This started with IOS 7, prior releases were point on perfect out of the gate.
For some this became noticealbe with 7.0, for quite a few others there were complaints about various issues with 6.0, and 5.0 and even as far back as 2.0 when people were saying their phones were barely usable at all.
 
For some this became noticealbe with 7.0, for quite a few others there were complaints about various issues with 6.0, and 5.0 and even as far back as 2.0 when people were saying their phones were barely usable at all.

That's really the point. People have different expectations and on a macro level seems like every o/s has its share of issues at launch. It's only people's tolerance that is changing.
 
That's really the point. People have different expectations and on a macro level seems like every o/s has its share of issues at launch. It's only people's tolerance that is changing.
It's partially that, and also the fact that different people experience different things, so some of those who experienced things in 5.0 or 6.0 might not necessarily experience much in 8.0 for whatever reason, but some who didn't experience them in earlier versions might notice some issues now and think things are just horrible and went downhill completely. People often don't really look beyond what's affecting them and what they deal with and make a call on something based on their own very limited and essentially anecdotal observations.
 
If Apple took a page out of Google's playbook and advanced iOS at a glacial pace, would that make people happy?
 
All I know is that iOS 8, so far, is a mess and borderline disaster.

Am I the only one who hasn't had many significant issues with iOS 8? For me it is running just as well as any iOS X.0 release I have seen so far.
 
If Apple took a page out of Google's playbook and advanced iOS at a glacial pace, would that make people happy?


Yes.

----------

Am I the only one who hasn't had many significant issues with iOS 8? For me it is running just as well as any iOS X.0 release I have seen so far.

It's not only many minor issues. It's features which were missing at launch. ICloud photos is missing, Apple pay not ready for launch, heath app had a major bug at release; Bluetooth not working for major cars, continuity features missing
 
iOS 6 comes out "iOS is so stale, Apple is getting boring I wish they would change the look, so many bugs, I'm thinking of going to Android"

iOS 7 comes out "iOS 6 was so much better, Apple tried to add too much, it's laggy and buggy"

iOS 8 comes out "iOS 7 was so much better, iOS 8 is laggy and buggy, I'm going back to iOS 7"

Rinse and repeat for iOS 9 next year.

Also iTunes is pretty fast and smooth for me. But then again I'm not using Windows.

Mavericks improved the battery life on my Macbook Pro, and it seems to perform slightly better. So I have no complaints about OSX either.

I don't trust iCloud any less than I trust the other cloud based storage solutions. I just don't use it because Apple only gives 5GB while I got 50GB of free Dropbox space for signing in on an Android phone.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.