Launched on September 19th, iOS 13 has continued Apple’s impressive installation rate of a new version of the iPhone’s operating system. In just 26 days since its release, the mobile OS is now installed on half of all iPhones, and on 55% of iPhones launched in the last year according to Apple.
Apple’s advantage over Google lies in its formula of making both the hardware and the software. The company does not shy away from comparing Android and iOS’ latest version user chart.
iOS 13 has been a buggy affair with Apple pushing multiple update releases every few days with multiple fixes. But it’s evident that the bugs did not stop iPhone users from updating their phones to the latest version of the software.
According to Apple, the data obtained from the App Store shows that 41% of iPhones are running iOS 12 and the remaining 9% are running a version of iOS older than iOS 12. Apple also reported that 33% of the iPads are running the newly released iPadOS which is slower compared to the iPhone’s grand rise to 50%.
On the other hand, Google has not updated its Android dashboard since May 2019, something which the company usually does with a new release, meaning numbers for Android 10 are not yet available.
Although, none of us would expect Android 10 to be anywhere close to iOS 13’s 50% mark. May’s numbers pegged Android 9 at 10.4%, which was about nine months after its public launch.
As much as this might not be a fair comparison due to the differing business models, it still highlights Apple’s success in keeping control of its own smaller system so it can distribute the updates directly to the iPhone user base.
Google recently announced that all the devices releasing in 2020 should be running Android 10. But what most of us did not know is that, once Google updates Android it has to roll out to each manufacturer, then each manufacturer has to apply its own customisations and user interface changes, roll them out internally to all their SKU’s, then check each carrier variant, then start a regional roll out alongside a carrier rollout. (Quite the process!)
However, something that counters that is Android’s monthly updates that include bug fixes and security patches for its devices. This updates keep devices secure and bug-free, though this doesn’t include the major updates to the OS itself.
Considering that there are far fewer variants of the iPhone, and everyone is addressing the same UI, Apple has a much easier time. And with a direct relationship to each owner, the roll-out has much less digital lag in the supply chain.