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iOS 8 adoption bumps up to 81% with help of Apple Watch

iOS 8.1.1

Update: 82% as of May 13.

More than 7 months after its official release, iOS 8 has now passed 80% adoption as a version of Apple’s latest mobile operating system is running on 81% of active devices, according to Apple’s App Store Distribution data. The new data puts iOS 8 up two points since this time two weeks ago. The remaining devices include 17% running a version of iOS 7, which is where the upgrades came from, while 2% of devices measured have iOS 6 or earlier.

That compares to MixPanel’s data that puts iOS 7 adoption at around 91% during the same period last year; its current data for iOS 8 is just a couple points above Apple’s. The trend has been that iOS 8 has seen a slower climb compared to the year ago update adoption rate, with Apple releasing more point updates in recent months to address performance issues and deliver new features.

One version of iOS 8 specifically noted addressing an issue with over-the-air updates requiring less internal storage space, an issue that hurt some early adoption especially with 8GB and 16GB devices in the mix.

iOS 8 adoption

In terms of features, Apple saved Apple Pay support for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus as well as the iPad mini 3 and iPad Air 2 for iOS 8.1. The Apple Watch app appeared with iOS 8.2 while Apple added over 300 new emoji characters with iOS 8.3. A pre-release version of iOS 8.4 which includes an all-new Music app is currently being tested by developers and public beta users.

iOS 8.2 or later is also required for use with the Apple Watch.

As we reported earlier this year, Apple will largely focus on performance issues and stability with the next major release, iOS 9, which Apple is expected to preview in a few weeks at WWDC in early June where it will reveal “the future of iOS and OS X.”

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Comments

  1. philboogie - 9 years ago

    Can the Watch even be used with iOS7? Or without an iPhone for that matter?

    • Jim Terryberry (@jetb2) - 9 years ago

      How, in any sane world, do you actually draw any correlation between iOS 8 adoption and the Apple Watch? Just about anyone who would be buying Apple Watch sight unseen most likely was already running iOS 8.

      If anything I can write an article saying “new emojis cause massive uptick in iOS 8 adoption because my mother in law was told by her grandson that she needed it so she can read his iMessages”

      This article is nothing but SEO spam.

      • Jr Denina Martinez - 9 years ago

        Nerd alert. Talking about “correlation”. If you took a psych stats class, that would be called a “positive correlation (X= increases, Y= increases) or a negative correlation (X=increases, Y= decreases).” For positive correlation, it’s like; The more tired (X) you are the more forgetful (Y) you will be. And for negative correlation, The more tired (X) you are the lower the patience (Y) you will have. Mind you that correlation does not imply causation. So if I was going to interpret your question, I would say, “When more people purchase the apple watch (independent variable), the more likely that apple will upgrade their iOS (dependent variable) software. HA! I couldn’t resist. I’m taking this class & it’s finals. Better to use it before I lose it. Just call this a rhetorical comment.

    • Zac Hall - 9 years ago

      Requires iOS 8.2 to setup and an iPhone for 99%

    • Michael Monaco Jr. - 9 years ago

      yes but you have to jailbreak philboogie

  2. Makes sense. End users users had absolutely “ZERO” chance to keep their older versions of iOS when connecting the Apple Watch. iOS 8.2 or higher

  3. dragonitedd - 9 years ago

    How could it possible that people who will buy  Watch by now not being up-to-date ones long ago? They must be  fans and shall have already upgraded to iOS 8 long time ago.

Author

Avatar for Zac Hall Zac Hall

Zac covers Apple news, hosts the 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast, and created SpaceExplored.com.