Mobile
63% of iPhone and iPad Users Updated to iOS 5.1 Within 15 Days
Apple released iOS 5.1 on the same day it announced the new iPad. Since its release iPhone and iPad users have been quick to update their devices to the latest version.
According to David Smith, the developer of Audiobooks for iOS, 63% of all iOS users have adopted iOS 5.1 within 15 days of its release. In Smith’s words “it took iOS just�15 days�to get the same percentage of users on the�latest�OS version as are currently on any�single�version of Android.”
In Google’s latest Platform Versions, 61.5% of Android users are currently running Android 2.3.3-.7 (Gingerbread). So 61.5% of Android users still using a version of the OS that’s more than a year old, while 63% of iOS users are using the latest version of the OS.
Of course, not every iOS user is able to update to iOS 5.1. Some people are still using old iPhones and old iPod touches that can’t even get iOS 5.0. According to Smith’s data, if you discount those users, the percentage of people who updated to iOS 5.1 is even higher.
Of those who were able to update to 5.1, 77% did so by March 21.
(Read: iOS 5.1 for iPhone 3GS Performance and Final Impressions)
The adoption rate for a major OS upgrade is usually�relatively slow, so it’s impressive that Apple is able to have so many users on the latest version of iOS.
Having more users on the latest version of iOS makes it easier for app developers to create apps. It’s easier for developers to get rid of bugs if they now that their users will have essentially the same hardware that’s likely using the same version of the OS.
(Read: 5 iPhone Apps We Want on Android)
Developers have cited the varied hardware and different software versions, commonly called fragmentation, as a reason apps come to iOS before Android. Specifically, we’re talking about Instagram for Android.