iOS 8 downloads have virtually halted, under 50% adoption
After an initial rush, people seem to have stopped upgrading to iOS 8, with adoption figures having barely changed in the last two weeks.
Whenever an iOS update is released, there’s a huge influx of Apple fans keen to get their hands on it. 46 per cent of iOS users upgraded to iOS 8 by September 21 – four days after its launch.
However, two weeks later that figure has risen to just 47 per cent, a one per cent increase.
Apple releases these figures regularly on its developer support page, as a way to clearly indicate which versions of iOS are the most important.
This is a big drop in uptake compared to iOS 7, which was at 70 per cent adoption after a couple of months – and 60 per cent just a week after launch.
Why is there so little love for iOS 8? As well as being subject to a lot of bugs and issues, the size requirements are very demanding.
iOS 8 requires 4.6GB of free space before you can install the update. It seems likely that many people simply won’t have the space on hand, or the time to decide exactly what they do and don’t want to ditch.
iOS 7 needed about 3.3GB of space – still a lot, but significantly less.
The roll-out of iOS 8 has not been smooth either. A major Healthkit bug meant Apple had to roll-out iOS 8.0.1 just days after the original release.
This was quickly followed by iOS 8.0.2, because the supposed iOS 8 fix introduced a host of bugs of its own.
It may not be good news for iOS 8, but iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus sales have been strong. Even with the “bendgate” debacle dragging behind them like a deadweight, the phones have reportedly already sold 21 million units, including 10 million in the first weekend.
Read more: iOS 8 tips and tricks