Apple has no problem getting operating system upgrades out to its customers. The vast majority of iPhone and iPad users are running the latest iOS version. And all of these people will be able to make the jump to iOS 12 later this month for free.
Contrast that with Apple’s chief rival. Just a small percentage of Android users have a recent version.
iOS 11 adoption very high
Apple tracks the adoption rate of each operating system version by checking each device that visits the App Store. It just updated its count, and as of yesterday, 85 percent of users run iOS 11. That’s quite good, considering the rocky launch of iOS 11.
The company also says that 10 percent of iPhone and iPad owners are on iOS 10, and the remainder are on an older version.
Google isn’t doing anywhere near as well. According to its own Distribution dashboard, just 14.6 percent of current devices are running Android 8.x Oreo. That’s despite the operating system debuting a year ago, on Aug. 21, 2017.
The iOS and Android percentages are so different because Google does have a serious problem getting operating system upgrades out to its customers.
iOS 12 incoming
Apple probably updated the info on what iOS version people are using now because that count is about to dramatically change. iOS 12 is expected to be released, and many of those version 11 users will soon upgrade.
This will probably a large percentage, because every device that can run iOS 11 can make the jump to the new version. All of them. This includes the iPhone 5s, iPad mini 2, and iPad Air, computers that came out in 2013.
The upgrade will be free to download and install. And, just to be clear, it doesn’t require iOS 11. People still using iOS 10 or earlier can jump up to the newest version any time.
And users of these semi-antique computers don’t need to fear that iOS 12 will cripple their device. Tests on beta versions show that this upcoming version actually boasts much better performance than iOS 11.
This means that in a few months, a vast majority of iPhone and iPad users will be on iOS 12. And a huge number of Android users will still be running a version that came out in 2015 or 2016. Or even before.
