New versions of the iOS mobile platform have always been faster to distribute to user devices than Android updates. Now it became known that iOS 16, released last fall, is already used on 81% of compatible devices. If we limit ourselves to iPhone models that have been released over the past few years, then this figure will increase to 90%.
Reasons for the rapid spread of iOS
The reason why iOS is spreading to users’ devices faster is mainly due to the fact that smartphones based on Android are produced by a large number of manufacturers. Many vendors use their own user interface on top of Android, which has to be further adapted for new versions of the operating system. For these and a number of other reasons, Android is spreading much more slowly.
Distribution of iOS and Android by version
As for iOS, at the moment, 13% of active devices are running iOS 15. If we take smartphones that have been released over the past four years, this figure will drop to 8%. Older versions of the software platform are installed on a small number of active iPhones, notes NIX Solutions.
In the tablet segment, iPadOS 16 is installed on 71% of compatible devices. The older iPadOS 15 is used on 20% of devices. For iPads released within the last four years, iPadOS 16 has a 76% share and iPadOS 15 has an 18% share. For comparison, in April of this year, Google published data according to which Android 13 was installed on only 12% of devices.
List of reasons for the slow spread of Android:
- A large number of manufacturers of smartphones based on Android.
- The need to adapt the user interface for each new version of the operating system.
- Other factors affecting propagation delay.
iOS and Android distribution list by version:
- iOS 16: 81% (all compatible devices), 90% (latest iPhone models)
- iOS 15: 13% (all active devices), 8% (latest iPhone models)
- Android 13: 12% (all devices)
iPadOS distribution list by version:
- iPadOS 16: 71% (all compatible devices), 76% (Latest iPad)
- iPadOS 15: 20% (all devices), 18% (Latest iPad)