Users still not upgrading to iOS 15 as quickly as iOS 14

AppleInsider

Estimated user data shows almost 21% of active iPhone users have upgraded to the new iOS 15, but that's behind the number who moved to iOS 14 over the same period last year.

Credit: Andrew O'Hara, AppleInsider

Initial figures from research firm Mixpanel, showed that about half as many users updated to iOS 15 during its first two days, compared to iOS 14 in 2020. By September 22, 2021, it was believed that 8.5% of users had updated to iOS 15, compared to 14.5% going to iOS 14 in its first two days.

Now Mixpanel has released data covering iOS 15's first two weeks. The company's data is based on analysing the devices of visitors to its websites, and estimates that 20.74% of traffic is coming from iOS 15.

In comparison, iOS 14 had 40.51% adoption by its second week.

Source: Mixpanel

At present, Mixpanel reports that 73.48% of users are on iOS 14, and 5.78% are on older versions.

Apple is already preparing iOS 15.1, and the first developer betas of it have been released. It's expected that the update will fix some of the many bugs found in the initial iOS 15 release.

Read on AppleInsider

skeptical

Why would they when it’s a daily whack-a-bug. 

djkfisher

We installed iOS 15 on two iPhones one iPad, TV and HomePod. So far everything is working well. 

entropys

I am waiting until the daily bugfest slows down.

and I bet the apple music offline 15 seconds and then stop bug for downloaded music that has been floating around for 8 months isn’t smitten either.

edited October 2021

apollak

My 4 AirTags do not work anymore for my IPhone. Warning me, when I enter my car or using my MTB. So, where is the fix from Apple?

skipdeedy

This is the first time since iPhone OS2 I’ve not upgraded to the latest major release immediately on day 1. 

After successive buggy updates, I’m just weary now of new releases. Going to wait until 15.0.1 at least or even 15.1. Really want some of the new features but also don’t want to be dealing with some of the bugs that have come to light. 

My faith in Apple software releases has been badly damaged. 

miguelward

Big difference is that ios 15 is not installed automatically. You have to choose it manually. This will surely change to automatic update once new patched version is issued 

fastasleep

Maybe it's because of this stupid shit right here:

elijahg

I've encountered some weird UI bugs, where the keyboard is rendered halfway across the screen, so half is chopped off when changing display orientation, which requires flipping back and forth again. I have no idea how these bugs get in, they apparently can't leave well enough alone and someone has to fiddle with the UI code without testing it properly. Also, I just don't think there are many compelling reasons to upgrade to iOS 15 compared to 14.

gatorguy

I did switch automatic updates to "off". Personally I'm glad for the option. I think I'm smart enough to figure out if an update is needed, especially if there are tradeoffs. 

dewme

Experienced a weird issue with my iPad Pro 10.5” and AirPods Pro. The AirPods Pro attached quickly to the iPad, I got the in-ear ding, the AirPods Pro showed up as “connected” in Bluetooth settings, but when I started playing music the sound only came out of the iPad’s speakers. Repeated the process a few times and eventually everything worked as it should with the AirPods Pro. Poking around online reveals a number of similar AirPods related issues with iOS 15 and rumors that iOS 15.1 will resolve them. 

We are all free to draw our own conclusions as to the reasons behind the apparent proliferation of bugs surfacing in new releases. Having come from a software development background I heavily suspect with a very high degree of confidence that these issues are rooted in the accumulation of technical debt.

The key word is accumulation. All software has “bugs” and new bugs are always being introduced as new code is added. Technical debt is the entirety of bugs, or more accurately defined: anomalies, that exist in the code base. Anomalies include coding errors that lead to crashes and hangs but also includes features that don’t work exactly how the requirements stated that they should work as well as architectural issues, for example, hard coding in something that should be in a separate module. In essence, technical debt is a promise that the development team is making that allows them to move forward with immediate concerns while acknowledging that they own anomalies that they will “pay off” sometime later.

Like any loan, especially student loans, the owner of the loan doesn’t always follow through and pay off the debt. If the software team doesn’t clear their technical debt it accumulates over time and sometimes gets worse because it gets in the way of new code. Why do they allow technical debt to accumulate? Because there are typically more anomalies than the team can remove AND still have time to release new software features. Yes, that’s the reality of the situation. The debt accumulates and new software releases keep going out the door. But consider the alternative. Can you imagine Tim Cook or any other tech product leader getting up in front of an audience at a keynote and announcing “Our next iOS release will have zero new features, we’re just going to clear out our technical debt backlog and get all of the bugs out. Yay.”

No, I can’t imagine that happening either.

rotateleftbyte

I'm waiting for the second update before taking the plunge on my phone. There is nothing that I 'must have' in the new version.
As for getting a new phone? Maybe next year.

fidonet127

You really can't compare this year vs last year. Our family updated, no problems. The update isn't pushed or emphised as much. 

dws-2

First time ever I'm waiting for the "X.1" release. Not really because of bugs, just that the new features aren't calling my name.

strangedays

Skeptical said:

Why would they when it’s a daily whack-a-bug. 

Seems fine here. 

Only issue I have - selecting text in this web forum editor doesn’t work as well. But, I’ve experienced several issues with this web forum over the years.

edited October 2021

maltz

Skeptical said:

Why would they when it’s a daily whack-a-bug. 

That's no different than iOS 14 or most any brand new major OS release on any platform, really.  I don't think the difference is as much that as it is that the average user only updates when their device prompts them to update.  While I personally pay a LOT of attention to updates and am holding off for at least the CarPlay fix (15.1, fingers crossed?) my iOS 14 phone hasn't prompted me to update beyond 14.8, either.  Many users may not even realize iOS 15 is even out.

I do have Automatic Updates turned off - not sure if that mechanism has updated people to iOS 15 yet or not.

jfc_pa

Good timing. “ Apple releases iOS 15.0.1 with Apple Watch Unlock, other bug fixes”

of course my new 13 has iOS 15 preloaded. 

edited October 2021

elijahg

dewme said:

Can you imagine Tim Cook or any other tech product leader getting up in front of an audience at a keynote and announcing “Our next iOS release will have zero new features, we’re just going to clear out our technical debt backlog and get all of the bugs out. Yay.”

No, I can’t imagine that happening either.

iOS 12? Snow Leopard?

fastasleep

dewme said:

Can you imagine Tim Cook or any other tech product leader getting up in front of an audience at a keynote and announcing “Our next iOS release will have zero new features, we’re just going to clear out our technical debt backlog and get all of the bugs out. Yay.”

No, I can’t imagine that happening either.

You're joking, right?

mplsp

StrangeDays said:

Skeptical said:

Why would they when it’s a daily whack-a-bug. 

Seems fine here. 

Only issue I have - selecting text in this web forum editor doesn’t work as well. But, I’ve experienced several issues with this web forum over the years.

Somehow I’ve never seen you encounter a single bug in an Apple product. I think you need to share your secret with the rest of us. But yes, the AI website has had (and continues to have) persistent bugs in its interface. 

The bugs are nothing new and nothing unexpected. Every major revision will have bugs and I long ago quit upgrading to ‘.0’ versions of iOS. There are no pressing features that I simply have to have so I’ll just wait for ‘.1’ to come out. 

I do wonder if the bad press around CSAM may be playing into slower adoption as well. Even though it’s not included in iOS 15 public perception persists.