Despite the fact that Apple has never had problems with iOS fragmentation (when many different versions of the operating system coexist on the market), at one time users were not very eager to install updates. Many trite worried that the next update would ruin an already working device, disrupting either the autonomy or the operation of the wireless interfaces. However, iOS 14 turned out to be so well-tuned and rich in innovations that after just 6 months more than 90% of users installed it, breaking the records of previous versions.
According to Mixpanel analysts, according to the results of six months since the release of iOS 14, 90.45% of owners of all compatible devices installed it. This is a record figure among previous versions of the operating system released in recent years. Thus, today only 5% of devices are still running iOS 13, and about 4.5% are running iOS 12 and earlier.
Should you upgrade to iOS 14?
It is not difficult to explain the high popularity of iOS 14, which was recorded immediately after the release. From the very beginning, the update proved to be a very stable version of the OS, since it practically did not suffer from bugs and shortcomings. This became possible thanks to a qualitatively new approach to testing updates, which was developed by Apple.
Unlike previous versions of iOS, all the innovations in iOS 14 were implemented one by one. According to Bloomberg, the developers, as it were, divided the operating system into several independent components, and then reassembled it, testing each new function separately from the others, so that it would be easier to track the errors and shortcomings of each of them. The company came to such a technique after the failure of iOS 13, which suffered from a large number of bugs.
However, from year to year the number of Apple devices that work on the basis of older OS versions is only growing. This is a natural process because the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch are very reliable and will not fail even after Apple stops supporting them in software. The owners are in no hurry to abandon them and continue to use them for some time. Therefore, if we start from the general base of devices of the company, only 75% work on the basis of iOS 14 today.
Why are Android smartphones not updating?
On the other hand, it’s still better than Google. At some point, the search giant even stopped publishing information about the distribution of new versions of Android, so as not to look too flawed against the background of Apple and its iOS. Despite the fact that Android 11 turned out to be the fastest growing version of the OS in terms of increasing share, Google is in no hurry to present facts about its distribution to the public. Obviously, because there is nothing to brag about.
The problem of distributing new versions of Android, oddly enough, lies in the rules of Google itself. The company categorically does not require smartphone manufacturers to update them for more than two years, as a result of which the vast majority of them use this rule. The only one that went its own way is Samsung, which extended the update period for its devices to 4 years.
Ironically, Android users are fine with this situation. When it comes to mediocre support for smartphones based on Google OS, their owners usually appeal to the fact that Google’s ecosystem of applications is updated separately from Android and thereby keeps the devices themselves up to date, which is simply impossible on iOS. As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.