The way iOS users are upgrading to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iOS 8 suggests that it is a huge hit, but statistics tell a different story. Fiksu’s reported usage is 1 out of 4 devices and Mixpanel’s is at 1 in 3, the uptake is far from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPLE)’s expectations as the figures fall far behind as compared to those from iOS 7’s release last year.

 

Half of the iOS devices had been running on iOS 7 on its fifth day of release. As comparison, to date, 46% of App Store users are already running under iOS 8. Users who are often on their iPhones and iPads seem to be upgrading rather quickly as compared to the others and this might be greatly due to the availability of automatic downloads of new applications.

 

So, why others are yet to upgrade?

 

Reports of struggles in upgrading to the new version are up. While the compressed download size is relatively small, with only about 1.1 gigabytes, the decompression and installation needs room to get the program applied and set up without messing up with the older installed version.

 

Moreover, several users have shown no interest in an upgrade to iOS 8 as there’s nothing too exciting with it. While iOS 8 has more to offer than iOS 7, the latter’s teaser adverts effectively enticed users early on and undeniably drew their attention to it even prior to its launch. Perhaps, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) needed a bit more marketing for its iOS 8.

 

Bugs have always been inevitable in the case of major upgrades. Troubles with battery life and application compatibility issues are not new. Oftentimes, the beta is more stable than the actual released version. This is because most of the apps are not available with the beta testing, so their impact is experienced only with the actual upgrade.

 

Currently, apart from the battery life, iOS 8 known bugs are the erratic behavior of third-party keyboards (like Android users’ Swype) and Safari’s stubbornness to save its “share screen” settings. These issues are expected to be rectified with time.

 

Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) has always provided its users with high-quality OS upgrades. Their programs’ stability and consistency continue to build the trust of developers who are more than ready to keep writing programs for the innovation giant. While quality is undoubted, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) may have to look into their means of educating users regarding compatibility issues of their newer operating systems with older versions of their iOS devices.

 

It is highly likely that the company will be able to tweak and utilize iCloud as a surrogate for back up instead of iTunes. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) could take some time out to explain to its users the process of using iTunes for backups at least.

 

While bugs are most likely to stick around, accommodating more third-party applications and extensions should be given special attention to lessen the possible troubles that may come with upgrades. The beta testing for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s Mac OS X was offered to public this year and this gave them a larger testing population. It would be wise to do the same for iOS beta testing in the future.

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