iOS 8 Now Installed on 68 Percent of Active iOS Devices

ios_8_adoption_5jan14Since launching in September alongside the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, iOS 8 has seen its adoption rate grow to 68 percent of compatible iOS devices, according to new numbers posted on the Apple Developer Support page.

With Apple updating data publicly every few weeks, this latest data point represents a four percentage point bump in adoption since the last update on December 23. The significant increase highlights Apple's strong performance in device activation numbers over the holidays to add to the company's iOS 8 user base.

Over the longer term, installation numbers are up 5 percentage points over the past month and up 12 percentage points in the past two months. iOS 7 usage has seen an understandable decline as its successor has gained ground, with the older operating system dropping from 33 percent in December to 29 percent in January. Earlier iOS versions represent just 4 percent of the current App Store user base.

Apple initially faced multiple issues following iOS 8's launch, including what has progressed to a lawsuit over storage space needed to install the OS on smaller GB devices, but the adoption rate has steadily increased as users have decided to upgrade and purchases of devices with iOS 8 preinstalled have increased.

Apple has brought a number of bug fixes and addressed some more significant flaws with recent updates such as iOS 8.1, iOS 8.1.1, and iOS 8.1.2. The company is also continuing to work on iOS 8.2, seeding a third beta to developers in mid-December. In addition to bug fixes and other improvements, iOS 8.2 will include support for integrating with the upcoming Apple Watch.

Related Forum: iOS 8

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Shows Off a Key Reason to Upgrade to the iPhone 17

Saturday February 7, 2026 9:26 am PST by
Apple today shared an ad that shows how the upgraded Center Stage front camera on the latest iPhones improves the process of taking a group selfie. "Watch how the new front facing camera on iPhone 17 Pro takes group selfies that automatically expand and rotate as more people come into frame," says Apple. While the ad is focused on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the regular iPhone...
wwdc sans text feature

Apple Rumored to Announce New Product on February 19

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld. Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Apple Logo Zoomed

Tim Cook Teases Plans for Apple's Upcoming 50th Anniversary

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026. "I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
Finder Siri Feature

Why Apple's iOS 26.4 Siri Upgrade Will Be Bigger Than Originally Promised

Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do. The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up. Upgraded Architecture The next-generation...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April. Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far. iOS 26.3 iPhone to Android Transfer Tool iOS 26.3 makes it easier...

Top Rated Comments

MH01 Avatar
145 months ago
Naturally the number will go up as new devices come with iOS 8 pre-installed. Be interesting what the number would be if people got the choice to downgrade to 7.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MattMJB0188 Avatar
145 months ago
I take great pleasure still being on iOS 7.1.2. I will never put the garbage that is iOS 8 on my iPhone 5S.

Still rockin iOS 6 on my iPad 3, too. Will never upgrade that either.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jsameds Avatar
145 months ago
Same happens every year. People championing the fact they are on iOS x-1.

Apparently being one behind is cool.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Yvan256 Avatar
145 months ago
Same here…. not sure why anyone would stay on iOS7 at this point??? We have iOS8 on an iPhone 5, 6 and iPad II with no issues on any of them.

I get the impression there's a very vocal minority that wants to just trash on anything Apple without any merit behind their rants.
They may be a very vocal minority, but they are not Android users bashing Apple products. They are Apple users preferring an older Apple product to a newer Apple product.

The same principle goes for OS X and Apple hardware. Changing things that used to work with new features that only do half the things the old one could do is not a good thing for the users.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HenryDJP Avatar
145 months ago
I take great pleasure still being on iOS 7.1.2. I will never put the garbage that is iOS 8 on my iPhone 5S.

Still rockin iOS 6 on my iPad 3, too. Will never upgrade that either.
Many people feel iOS7 was pure garbage.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MattMJB0188 Avatar
145 months ago
Why? running iOS 8 without any issues on a 5s.

What are you worried about.

Maybe so. However, 7.1.2 is still more optimized and fluid. I have played with an iPhone 5S running 8.1.1.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)