60 percent of iPhones now running iOS 6: report
Summary: While Google is struggling to get 2 percent of Android users up to Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean," a report by Chitika Insights claims that 60 percent of iPhones are running Apple's latest mobile software.
iOS 6, Apple's latest mobile operating system release, is installed on 60 percent of iPhones in the U.S. and Canada, claims Chitika Insights, the research arm of online ad network Chitika.
The research firm examined millions of mobile ad impressions from its Chitika Ad network between September 18 to October 1 2012. The data showed "unprecedented adoption rates by Apple users".
The adoption rate looks staggering if the figures are correct. 60 percent of iPhones are now running the new operating system less than two weeks after release. Compare this to the market share for Google's latest mobile operating system offering, Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean", which continues to struggle to hit the 2 percent mark after two and a half months.
And iPhone users are fast to grab a new update, with 15 percent running the new operating system within 24 hours of the platform being released.
"Apple’s performance in this area is a great selling point for mobile advertisers, as well as website and application developers, who can all confidently optimize their mobile properties to take advantage of the latest iOS capabilities without fear of shutting out a large portion of the user base," says the research firm.
The slow adoption of new versions of Android on the other hand affects everyone in the ecosystem. It forces developers to support an ever-increasing array of aging versions, while at the same time preventing them from making full use of new features. For consumers, it means that they are denied new features and not getting security updates that help keep their handsets and tablets safe from hackers and malware.
Owners are not just updating their iPhones, but also their iPads and iPod touch devices. 45 percent of iPad owners have made the leap to iOS 6, which 39 percent have upgraded their iPod touch. First-generation iPads cannot run iOS 6, while first- and second-generation iPod touch devices are stuck on iOS 4.
Image source: Chitika Insights.
Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.
Talkback
Cabbaged my wife's iPhone 4S
Fortunately the backup in iTunes recovered it.
Deja vu from IOS 4-5 a year previously.
A big Raspberry to Apple !!!!
It's going to happen but
This doesn't even matter!
oh the irony!!!
Usability? Smooth operation? Not battery hungry?
Fantasyland
Well to be fair about it
However, look at the big updates that Apple advertises about iOS6. Maps, Email, Browser, Facetime, Photos, Passbook, etc. Those are updates that happen on the app level in android. They don't require an entirely new operating system to be installed.
As for iOS6, well the reviews are not so great about some of the changes. Maps, wifi, store, etc. I'm not sure it is something to crow about just yet.
Excellent point Emacho
I'm going to use this in the future, hope that's okay. iOS users have to update their ENTIRE OS to take advantage of these new application versions. Apple is actually getting credit for embedding these applications into the OS (something they keep telling us is wrong when others do it) which then forces Apple to issue full OS updates which then forces the Apple fanbois to tell us that full OS updates are better than the alternative. They aren't. The only thing that counts is the end result. The end result with Apple is actually worse. If you want to update just the mail app in Android, you can. With Apple, if you want the Facebook integration of iOS 6 but don't want the horrific maps application, tough luck.
I'm going to give a ton of credit to Cupertino's script writers for this one. They have actually been able to take a huge negative of iOS (you must update the entire OS to update many of your apps) into a positive (Android sucks because it doesn't force you to update your entire OS if you want to update a single app). I fell for that script. No longer. Thanks to you Emacho.
+1
Leave it to you to haters
iTARD can't control himself
mongolOID can't control himself
Holding us back?
Even Google voice actions existed in 2.3 and it did most of what air I did with less glitz and glamour.
The problem with your rant is that you cannot prove my claims wrong. There's a guy on YouTube who did a 5 part video comparing 2.3.x with iOS 5.1 and it wasn't even close! iOS 6 is going backwards and that really has to hurt Apple in this comparison.
Maps and YouTube?
Absolutely the wrong takeaway
What is the % of iDevices with Siri? It isn't 60%.
What is the % of iDevices with turn-by-turn navigatoin? It isn't 60%.
What is the % of iPhone with the iPhone 5 resolution? It isn't 60%.
The "iOS 6" label has been slapped on many radicatlly different OSs. My iPhone 4 runs an OS that should be called iOS 4.9. If any developer releases functionality that relies on Siri, my iPhone 4 and my iPad 2 will not be able to make use of it. The only real iOS 6 is the one that comes on the iPhone 5, and that is nowhere near 60% of all iDevices.
Well, my iPhone 4S runs iOS 6, not "4.9"
By that logic...
Or maybe we should call all versions of Android installed on devices without NFC hardware Gingerbread 2.9.9 (or whatever version Google introduced NFC)?
I'm really really glad you brought up Vista
You shouldn't have, you won't like this link:
http://betanews.com/2007/04/03/class-action-lawsuit-claims-vista-capable-is-misleading/
If we treated Apple the same, there absolutely SHOULD be class action lawsuits. Of course, you don't want Apple to be treated the same as MS.
"on devices without NFC hardware Gingerbread 2.9.9"
Now you are reaching. NFC requires specialized NFC hardware to work. Siri does not because Siri was an app that was compatible with 3G right up until the time Apple pulled it from the app store. Turn-by-turn navigation is on my iPhone 4 right now with the Navigon app that I purchased. This proves that the iPhone 4 has all the hardware requirements to support turn-by-turn navigation. Panorama photo functionality has been available since the 90s (if not earlier) so unless you want to claim that the iPhone 4S is only as good as a 15 year old smartphone, you might not want to push this one too much.
I'll also bring up the fact that the #1 and the #2 features that Apple is advertising with iOS 6 are Siri and Maps, neither of which is truly available on the iPhone 4. Was NFC ever the #1 or #2 most highlighted feature of Android? Prove it.
So tell me...
If Apple labeled the iPhone 4 as "iOS 6" capable and had formal "Express Upgrade" program, then sure, file class-action-lawsuits until the cows came home, I'll even get on board if my 4S is included. But of course, that's not what Apple did. I didn't buy my iPad 2 under the impression I would get iOS 6, Siri, etc. Apple did not label the box with an iOS 6 sticker. Apple, to my knowledge, did not guarantee anything but the version of iOS that was on my iPad 2 and iPhone 4S when I bought them. And I won't even get into the delays and trickery they outlined in the later part of that article.
So maybe I was reaching, but you seem to be doing a fair share of it yourself.
And I'm not sure what I'm pushing, as I never mentioned turn-by-turn or panoramic view. But, you certainly seem to be criticizing Apple quite a bit for iOS 6 available on older models, even if it is a lesser version of it, which is quite odd, given few of the other platforms (Android, MS) seem to be making any effort for devices as old as the iPhone 4. So, which would you prefer, Apple giving you some, if not all of the new OS or get nothing at all? I don't argue that it wouldn't be great to get ALL these features on older devices like my iPad 2 or your iPhone 4, but given what the competition's doing in comparison, you're criticism of Apple seems a bit over the top.
Fair enough, let's go with that
Perfect. That is very smart of you. You've just successfully argued against every single Apple fanboi that said everyone should buy iPhone instead of Android because iPhone always gets the latest OS. That isn't a valid argument, as you've pointed out.
"you certainly seem to be criticizing Apple quite a bit for iOS 6 available on older models"
I do because Apple is being dishonest by calling it iOS 6 and their script reading fanbois are being dishonest by claiming Apple is acting better than anyone else. iOS 6 is not available on older models. If it were, older models would get the #1 and #2 feature of iOS 6. If Apple said "we are updating iPhone 4 to iOS 4.9" that would be honest. Of course then the script writers wouldn't be able to say that Apple was better because they offered major OS upgrades to older phones, unlike other companies.
Apple is worse than all the rest only because they lie about how they handle major OS upgrades, not because the end result is any different. That is why Apple is singled out for criticism.
If we go back to the original blog, AKH was praising Apple because 60% of iDevices were running the same OS, making iOS better than Android. That is a lie. 60% of iDevices do not run the same OS. Apple should not get credit just because they choose to lie about how they label their OS versions.
A little context is required...
So, while I won't argue that everyone should buy an iPhone over other platforms just because of their practice of giving users of older devices OS upgrades, I certainly do view it as one area that Apple does better than it's competitors, Siri or not.
But, somehow in your eyes that's FAR worse than the Android process where you buy a phone and less than a year later, Google releases a new version of Android. You wait a month or two to find out when your OEM/carrier deems your phone worthy of receiving the update (assuming they bother to address it at all). You wait a couple/few months more and as that date approaches, you find your OEM/carrier have pushed back that date another couple/few months. So you wait a few months more, maybe they grace you with the new version, maybe they don't, or maybe they push it back yet again. Maybe they just say, screw it, we're not selling enough of that model anymore, so we we're not doing it at all and we're not even going to tell you we're not doing it. Because at this point, there's a good chance you won't even notice because you've completely lost all hope. But hey, since you're now approaching your upgrade eligibility date, we have this great new model coming out next month. It has all these great shiny do-hickeys and a snazzy name, and best of all, it runs Android (but not the version of Android due out a month later) so it's open!!!!