Apple has released latest numbers on the iOS 9 adoption. The Cupertino company said on its developer page that the new mobile OS runs 70% of all the compatible iOS devices as of Nov.30. Though this adoption rate is higher than that of iOS 8 last year, the rates slowed considerably in November. The iOS 9 powered 66% of devices at the end of October. Apple said 22% of devices run last year’s iOS 8, while the remaining 8% devices run the iOS 7 or earlier versions.
iOS 9 adoption similar to that of iOS 7
Released on September 16, 2015, the iOS 9 reached 57% adoption in just three weeks, and 66% at the end of October. The adoption rate data helps developers decide whether to drop support for older version in their apps. It also allows app developers to clean up their code base. Last year, the iOS 8 had reached 60% adoption by Nov.21. In 2013, the distribution of iOS 7 shot up to 74% in less than three months of launch.
It means the newest OS has performed in line with the adoption of iOS 7, and better than iOS 8. The last year’s update required a huge storage space, forcing many users to delay updating to iOS 8. The iOS 9 is much slimmer, requiring only 1.3GB of free storage space. Recently, Apple pushed out iOS 9.1 with Live Photos enhancements and more than 150 new emoji characters.
iOS 9 beats Android Marshmallow by a distance
By comparison, only 0.3% Android devices were running the new Marshmallow version that was released in early October. Even if you take into account the last year’s Lollipop, the figure doesn’t exceed 26%. Data shows that KitKat is still the most popular Android version with 37.8% share. If you put KitKat, Lollipop, and Marshmallow together, they still lag behind iOS 9.
Apple’s quick adoption cycle gives it an edge when it comes to rolling out new features to users. In contrast, most Android users have to purchase a new device to get a newer version of Android. Since Google’s mobile OS is open to third-parties, it lacks a uniform update delivery system to get the latest version on the majority of devices.
