iOS 9 adoption is Apple's fastest ever, already installed on more than half of devices

Posted:
in iPhone edited September 2015
iOS 9 is off to a blockbuster start, with more than 50 percent of all iPhone, iPad and iPod touch units already running the latest mobile operating system, making it the fastest adoption in Apple history.



iOS 9 is already on pace to be downloaded by more users than any other software release in Apple's history, marketing chief Phil Schiller said in a press release. The company's figures are based on access to the App Store as of Saturday, Sept. 19.

Apple's official numbers are even better than outside estimates, which pegged adoption at 36 percent. In contrast, Google currently reports that only 21 percent of active Android users have obtained some version of Android 5.0 Lollipop since it first became available nearly a year ago.

iOS 9 became available to download last Wednesday. The free update includes more advanced iPad multitasking, a News app, search and Siri enhancements, and under-the-hood improvements like better battery life and a smaller download size.

iOS 9 can be downloaded free via iTunes or as an over-the-air update through the Software Update function in iOS's Settings app. People must have at least an iPhone 4s, iPad 2, or fifth-generation iPod touch.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 45
    A couple of caveats
    1)Apple have given themselves an additional week of pre-orders to give in the numbers when they do release them, compared with all other recent releases. "Most pre-orders in history" or 'X million in the hands of customers on day 1"

    2) iOS 9 %u2013 Phil S doesn%u2019t say it%u2019s the fastest adoption. He says it is on course to become the most adopted. Somewhat subtle difference. Also, and he basically says just this - Most adopted doesn%u2019t necessarily mean a % of adoption win, it is numerical %u2013 absolute numbers of iPhone/iPads which, obviously, and especially as iOS 9 goes back to iPhone 4s and old pads, are growing.

    As people like Rene Richie love to go on about : "context".

    Phil is a pro - probably one of the world's best - at marketing. They fudge things like this when it suits them and to make things look best. It's his job. And nobody can blame them.
  • Reply 2 of 45
    I like all the subtle enhancements. It feels nicely "at home" on my iPhone 6 . Can't wait to use it with 3D Touch on my 6s !
  • Reply 3 of 45
    This is great news, and I like iOS 9 a lot.

    I assume many apps need to be updated to be compatible in minor ways? Example: I used the Overdrive app to listen to audiobooks. In the past, on my Apple Watch I could use the "Now Playing" screen to see -- and pause -- the audiobook. After upgrading my iPhone to iOS 9, the Overdrive audiobooks no longer appear on the Watch "Now Playing" screen. Possibly iOS 9 changed some API that Overdrive used to make its content visible to Now Playing? Not sure... but no doubt we'll see a wave of app updates over the next few weeks to leverage iOS 9 capabilities.
  • Reply 4 of 45
    saareksaarek Posts: 1,520member
    Who'd have thought that ad blocking would be such a huge feature.

    I wonder what the uptake rate for this new feature is.
  • Reply 5 of 45
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Slprescott View Post



    This is great news, and I like iOS 9 a lot.



    I assume many apps need to be updated to be compatible in minor ways? Example: I used the Overdrive app to listen to audiobooks. In the past, on my Apple Watch I could use the "Now Playing" screen to see -- and pause -- the audiobook. After upgrading my iPhone to iOS 9, the Overdrive audiobooks no longer appear on the Watch "Now Playing" screen. Possibly iOS 9 changed some API that Overdrive used to make its content visible to Now Playing? Not sure... but no doubt we'll see a wave of app updates over the next few weeks to leverage iOS 9 capabilities.



    Shortly after I updated to 9 I got a list of over 20 app updates.

  • Reply 6 of 45
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    The Apple is Doomed™ take will be iOS 9 adoption is so high because ios 8 was so bad people couldn't wait to upgrade from it. Oh and Apple still hasn't provided any iPhone sales figures which means they must be bad. :D
  • Reply 7 of 45
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Slprescott View Post



     no doubt we'll see a wave of app updates over the next few weeks to leverage iOS 9 capabilities.

    Yeah, any day now right? Those updates must just be waiting to drop on us...

     

    ...or developers have become complacent and don't see the need to work hard on new features just because its update season, especially when they aren't allowed to charge for them.

     

    I'm still waiting for iOS 8 features to be included in some of my most used Apps.

  • Reply 8 of 45
    rogifan wrote: »
    The Apple is Doomed™ take will be iOS 9 adoption is so high because ios 8 was so bad people couldn't wait to upgrade from it. Oh and Apple still hasn't provided any iPhone sales figures which means they must be bad. :D

    First part is true! :lol:
    pmz wrote: »
    Yeah, any day now right? Those updates must just be waiting to drop on us...

    ...or developers have become complacent and don't see the need to work hard on new features just because its update season, especially when they aren't allowed to charge for them.

    I'm still waiting for iOS 8 features to be included in some of my most used Apps.

    Some of them will never be included because the developers have ulterior motives.
  • Reply 9 of 45
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TheWhiteFalcon View Post



    Some of them will never be included because the developers have ulterior motives.

    Can't tell if serious...

     

    But for example, why can't I use iCloud Keychain or 1Password to log in to any 3rd party Apps? Only 1 out of the hundreds on my phone have included.

  • Reply 10 of 45
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    wdowell wrote: »
    A couple of caveats
    1)Apple have given themselves an additional week of pre-orders to give in the numbers when they do release them, compared with all other recent releases. "Most pre-orders in history" or 'X million in the hands of customers on day 1"

    2) iOS 9 %u2013 Phil S doesn%u2019t say it%u2019s the fastest adoption. He says it is on course to become the most adopted. Somewhat subtle difference. Also, and he basically says just this - Most adopted doesn%u2019t necessarily mean a % of adoption win, it is numerical %u2013 absolute numbers of iPhone/iPads which, obviously, and especially as iOS 9 goes back to iPhone 4s and old pads, are growing.

    As people like Rene Richie love to go on about : "context".

    Phil is a pro - probably one of the world's best - at marketing. They fudge things like this when it suits them and to make things look best. It's his job. And nobody can blame them.

    1. Who cares if there was an extra week of preorders. If they can't fulfill the order by the release date it won't count as a sale.

    2. Again who cares. Phil didn't say it's the number one version of iOS now.

    There's no fudging involved.

    Edit: in any case, the numbers are impressive and Critics will always try to downplay Apple's success.
  • Reply 11 of 45
    Proactive is already picking out my routine and I didn't even notice it.

    Until Saturday when I took my kids out to a new place, a good drive from home. When I got into my car, I noticed my iPhone lit up with a notification. I thought it was a text, so looked at my phone and it as Siri with the message: Traffic is heavy right now, you are 45 minutes from home.

    Siri guessed I was going home and gave me an estimate. Not sure where Apple pulled the traffic data from, but it was accurate. Last night I went to get groceries after supper and Siri told me traffic as light and I was 5 mins from the store. This morning Siri told me traffic was light and I was 15 minutes from work.

    I'm not sure whether Proactive is that good, or my life is so predictable, but it's definitely interesting.
  • Reply 12 of 45

    Any news about WatchOS 2?

  • Reply 13 of 45
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    wdowell wrote: »
    A couple of caveats
    1)Apple have given themselves an additional week of pre-orders to give in the numbers when they do release them, compared with all other recent releases. "Most pre-orders in history" or 'X million in the hands of customers on day 1"

    2) iOS 9 %u2013 Phil S doesn%u2019t say it%u2019s the fastest adoption. He says it is on course to become the most adopted. Somewhat subtle difference. Also, and he basically says just this - Most adopted doesn%u2019t necessarily mean a % of adoption win, it is numerical %u2013 absolute numbers of iPhone/iPads which, obviously, and especially as iOS 9 goes back to iPhone 4s and old pads, are growing.

    As people like Rene Richie love to go on about : "context".

    Phil is a pro - probably one of the world's best - at marketing. They fudge things like this when it suits them and to make things look best. It's his job. And nobody can blame them.

    The first numbers Apple used for pre sales were the three day weekend, which was the same as always. The other number I'm seeing is the "over 50%" of devices. Assuming the latter is an Apple number, then both are significant.
  • Reply 14 of 45
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    So I have a question on the app switcher with slide over/split view. It appears like the app switcher shows every app that supports this vs just the apps you currently have 'open'. Is there a way to change this? Once more apps start supporting split view I can see this being clunky having to scroll through lots of apps.
  • Reply 15 of 45
    matrix07matrix07 Posts: 1,993member
    Is this a proof that customers care more about performance than features? I think so. Apple, listen to your customers.
  • Reply 16 of 45
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    matrix07 wrote: »
    Is this a proof that customers care more about performance than features? I think so. Apple, listen to your customers.

    Is content blocking considered performance or a feature? That's one of my favorite things about iOS 9.
  • Reply 17 of 45
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    pmz wrote: »
    Yeah, any day now right? Those updates must just be waiting to drop on us...

    ...or developers have become complacent and don't see the need to work hard on new features just because its update season, especially when they aren't allowed to charge for them.

    I'm still waiting for iOS 8 features to be included in some of my most used Apps.

    I'm an app junkie, and I don't mind admitting it. I've got over 500 apps in my iPad. I've been receiving ever increasing updates emphasizing the iOS 9 compatibility and feature completeness of the updates.

    I expect that number will continue to increase as it always does after an OS upgrade.
  • Reply 18 of 45
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    jungmark wrote: »
    1. Who cares if there was an extra week of preorders. If they can't fulfill the order by the release date it won't count as a sale.

    2. Again who cares. Phil didn't say it's the number one version of iOS now.

    There's no fudging involved.

    Edit: in any case, the numbers are impressive and Critics will always try to downplay Apple's success.

    It's not surprising that Apple would structure things so they beat last years opening weekend numbers, but the only number that matters is what Apple reports next January. And there is no way to fudge actual sales.
  • Reply 19 of 45
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    rogifan wrote: »
    Is content blocking considered performance or a feature? That's one of my favorite things about iOS 9.

    It's a feature. Apple doesn't block content or ads. The feature allows third parties to offer extensions that do so, which might increase safari performance.

    But be aware that some sites will be missing features with content blocking on, such as commenting, or the reading of some articles. Some sites already will block a browser with content blocking on. You might need to hold down the page reload and wait for the window that allows the page to load without content blocking.
  • Reply 20 of 45
    saarek wrote: »
    Who'd have thought that ad blocking would be such a huge feature.

    I wonder what the uptake rate for this new feature is.

    Since there is some degree of effort to install and activate the ad blockers (frankly, I had been under the initial impression that Safari for mobile had ad-blocking built in until I found out otherwise) the level of adoption will surely be much lower that it could have been.
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