Mikey Campbell
After stagnating earlier in October, adoption of Apple's latest iOS 8 mobile operating system has finally cracked the 50 percent barrier and now stands at 52 percent of devices tracked by the iOS App Store.
As of Oct. 27, iOS 8 was installed on 52 percent of devices registered through the App Store, finally surpassing the marketshare of iOS 7, which accounted for 43 percent of the whole. Apple announced the findings on its developer webpage.
The iOS 8 new metrics represent a five percent increase in adoption over the past three weeks, better than Apple's last update, which saw a meager one percent uptick over a period of two weeks.
By comparison, however, last year's iOS 7 — considered a major revamp to Apple's mobile OS — garnered a 52 percent share of Web traffic in only one week, according to a third-party study.
Share of devices running iOS 6 and older shrunk to 5 percent over the past weeks.
Despite booming iPhone 6 and 6 Plus sales, iOS 8's marketshare may be a side effect of the OS' official launch and subsequent botched iOS 8.0.1 patch. Owners may be reluctant to upgrade to the latest iOS 8 version after seeing problems that included a launch-day bug that prompted Apple to pull HealthKit-enabled apps from the App Store. A fix released one week later contained issues of its own that caused problems with iPhone 6 and 6 Plus cellular connectivity and Touch ID.
Apple's latest iOS 8.1 update is relatively stable thus far and, for iPhone 6 users, activates Apple Pay contactless mobile payments.
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Amber Neely
55 Comments
iOS 8.1 fcked my WiFi connections badly. All of my iOS 8.1 devices (5S, 6 and Air) couldn't connect to my network if the signal is at 2-bar level; it keeps asking to enter wifi password. When I walk closer to the router, it connects. Same router, same network and it's okay with 8.0.2 right before the update. I thought my router was bad, but it's the same on the second router. This is the first fking problem I have with iOS...
It's really not the bugs, it's the storage size. My mother is on 8.0.2 because I have to go apply the update manually and haven't had time yet. She has a 16GB 5C. She has discovered that 64GB would be a better idea next time. :D
How long did it take for iOS 7 to hit 50%? [quote name="fallenjt" url="/t/183102/apples-ios-8-adoption-finally-breaks-50-nearly-6-weeks-after-launch#post_2629095"]iOS 8.1 fcked my WiFi connections badly. All of my iOS 8.1 devices (5S, 6 and Air) couldn't connect to my network if the signal is at 2-bar level; it keeps asking to enter wifi password. When I walk closer to the router, it connects. Same router, same network and it's okay with 8.0.2 right before the update. I thought my router was bad, but it's the same on the second router. This is the first fking problem I have with iOS...[/quote] If it's happening with all your devices you might want to 1) see if there is a firmware update for your router, 2) see if you can put the router in a position so it doesn't get "2 bars" anywhere in your home, which could mean a repeater or new router, and/or 3) reset the network settings on one of your devices to see if that resolves any odd issue. I personally haven't experienced that with my iPhone but I have experienced slow WiFi on my MBP on Yosemite which also shows 802.11n when everything in the house is now 802.11ac. Toggling it off/on on my MBP resolves the issue, but that's not really germane to this thread.
[quote name="SolipsismX" url="/t/183102/apples-ios-8-adoption-finally-breaks-50-nearly-6-weeks-after-launch#post_2629116"]How long did it take for iOS 7 to hit 50%?[/quote] Less than a week according to the article.
[quote name="Gatorguy" url="/t/183102/apples-ios-8-adoption-finally-breaks-50-nearly-6-weeks-after-launch#post_2629118"]Less than a week according to the article.[/quote] Thanks. I did not see that as I skimmed the article and it was the only thing I was looking for. :\