Apple's iOS 7 beta already on 0.22% of compatible US devices, study says

By AppleInsider Staff

According to ad firm Chitika, Apple's latest iOS 7 beta accounts for 0.22 percent of all U.S. iPhone and iPod touch traffic across its network, double the 0.11 percent seen by the third iOS 6 beta last year.


Data from Chitika Insights June 2013.

The metrics, which measure adoption up to June 12, suggest a high developer interest in the latest iOS just two days after it was unveiled on stage at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. Chitika notes that the number of impressions is growing, suggesting developers are continuing to download and test the new mobile OS.

"The more radical design change, and its potential impact on existing applications, could be driving this behavior," the firm said. "Alternatively, the new interface could be spurring users to browse more frequently."

With definitively positive initial growth, the report speculates developers are not only excited to test out the new features and vast redesign, but want to make sure their apps operate smoothly on the revamped system.

For its report, the firm's Insights research team used a sample of tens of milllions of iPhone and iPod touch online ad impressions taken from June 3 to June 12. Apple introduced iOS 7 on Monday, June 10, and released the beta to developers that same day.

The 0.22 percent share was reached by pitting ad impressions against the number traffic from all iPhones and iPod touches across the company's ad network.

It should be noted that the 0.11 percent share seen by iOS 6 in 2012 is inherently lower because that release was also available on the second and third generation iPad, creating a much larger pool of devices.