After five and a half weeks of availability, Apple’s iOS 8 mobile operating system is now on 52% of all active iOS devices. Those numbers come from Apple’s own App Store support page for developers.
iOS 8’s installation numbers have increased approximately four percent over the course of the two weeks, which means adoption numbers are on the rise after several weeks of stagnation. During Apple’s October 16 iPad-centric event, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that iOS 8 was installed on 48 percent of devices as of October 13, and before that, the OS was installed on 46 percent of devices on September 21.
It is likely that the October 20 release of iOS 8.1 enticed iOS users to upgrade, as it brought several new features, including Apple Pay, SMS Forwarding, Instant Hotspot, and more to iOS devices.
Several bug fixes came along for the ride in iOS 8.1, fixing most users’ complaints about Wi-Fi connection issues, Bluetooth issues, and more.
Many users may have held back updating to iOS 8, due to a series of issues, including an initial release that was affected by a HealthKit bug that held back the release of HealthKit-enabled apps. iOS 8.0.1, which was released to fix the HealthKit bugs, disabled cellular connections and Touch ID for thousands of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users. A hurriedly released iOS 8.0.2 update fixed those issues.
Apple’s numbers are based on usage in Apple’s own App Store.
