Submitted by Frank Macey on
When it comes to the latest App Store statistics, a whopping four-fifths of active iOS devices are now running iOS 10. As of February 20, Apple reports 79% of active iPhones, iPads and iPod touch units compatible with the newest firmware have already installed it. This leaves 16% with iOS 9 and just 5% running earlier versions of iOS.
iOS 10 launched only five months ago, making its adoption rate faster than both iOS 9 and iOS 8 before that. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus have been selling at a record pace, which could be responsible for a large portion of the iOS 10 adoption rate. Both models have shipped with iOS 10 installed since their debut in September.
The iOS 10.3 beta includes several new features and is currently in the hands of developers and public beta testers. Among the additions are Apple ID profiles, Find my AirPods, weather forecasts directly in Maps, a Podcast widget and a completely new filesystem called Apple File System (APFS), which offers stronger encryption.
As usual, Apple fans like to compare iOS adoption rates to that of Android. The latest version of the Android operating system, dubbed Nougat was installed on less than two percent of active Android devices six months after release. For comparison, Android Marshmallow was launched in October 2015 and is currently installed on 31% of compatible devices.
Once iOS 10.3 is officially released, this could encourage many iPhone and iPad owners to update from iOS 9. iOS 10.3 will be the last iteration of iOS 10, as Apple is expected to focus on the reveal of iOS 11 at WWDC17. The event will be held starting June 5 in San Jose, California.