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You are here: MacNN Forums > News > Tech News > New iOS release overtakes iOS 6 as most popular iOS version

New iOS release overtakes iOS 6 as most popular iOS version
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Sep 20, 2013, 10:12 PM
 
ISPs monitoring traffic spikes noticed a huge one just minutes after the official release of iOS 7, with reports from some providers that data usage doubled compared to normal levels. Late on Friday, the new iOS version overtook iOS 6 as the most popular, less than 48 hours after the upgrade first became available. Analytics company Mixpanel estimates that more than 130 million users had updated their devices within the first 10 hours of availability, out of a potential iOS 7-eligible base of 415 million.



At its current clip, the new OS will equal or even surpass the estimated based of current-version Android users (versions 4.1 and higher) over the weekend. While Android has a larger user base than iOS overall, only about a third of its users can update or run the latest versions, known as "Jelly Bean."

By Google's own estimates -- which were recently recalculated to ignore any users on very old versions -- around 287 million users are on Android 4.1.x, with only 66.7 million on 4.2.x, the most recent version. The combined total of Jelly Bean users -- 353.7 million -- is smaller than the estimated 415 million "active" iPhone, iPod touch and iPad iOS users that are eligible to run iOS 7 (Apple TV users are not included in these totals, since Apple TV doesn't run the same version of its OS as the other devices).

The spikes, reported by The Guardian in the UK, focus on British ISP reports and show that demand hit its peak about 3.5 hours after the official release. This would have been around the time Apple servers began to recover from the initial wave of downloaders as users struggled in the first few hours to download the free iOS upgrade, which ranged in size from 750MB to 1.4GB depending on what device was being updated.

The latest data from Mixpanel, taken late Friday night, indicates that more than half of the 93 percent of iOS users that were running iOS 6 have already switched, suggesting that more than 200 million users worldwide are already on the new mobile operating system.

At one point in the initial surge, a British Telecom (BT) spokesperson reported that the provider was seeing traffic of over 200 Gigabits per second, the highest the company has ever recorded. Lonap said that overall high-use traffic, which averages up to 30 Gigabits per second, spiked to just under 60Gb per second late Wednesday evening as the upgrade became available, and raised the daily peak time traffic to nearly 40Gb per second on Thursday.

The paper also reported that Germany's Berlin Internet Exchange saw traffic rise precipitously -- more than 10Gb per second over normal traffic levels -- as iOS 7 came online. Data from Akamai, a company that distributes and manages Internet backbone traffic, suggested that overall worldwide usage jumped 12 percent above normal levels as the download became available.


     
panjandrum
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Sep 22, 2013, 02:24 PM
 
I guess it says something about the loyalty of Apple owners that they are willing to jump right into this without waiting for more reviews. Looking around the net, you will see that there are many things to like about iOS7, but also many things to dislike. Now, personal taste and preference is one thing, we don't have to defend it because it is subjective. I like the new iOS7 look quite a bit, but regardless of whether I like it from an aesthetics point of view, I am forced to agree with many that it is harder to use. One of the major problems is that it is harder to SEE. Things which should be (and prior to iOS7 were) easily distinguishable are no longer. I've got two iPads sitting here, one updated and one not updated, and the difference is startling - it's harder to tell what's going on on the iOS7 device. This one issue alone demonstrates quite clearly to me that Apple's focus has shifted far from the "end-user-experience" and into "whatever Apple's current UI design team thinks is cool at the time and will sell". This was a common complaint about Lion and Mountain Lion also (lots of stuff harder to see / find, such as active buttons no longer being sufficiently differentiated from inactive buttons). Apple just can't keep degrading the overall user-experience in favor of UI design which they think is "cooler" but is actively a hindrance to using their devices. It might not have caught up to them yet, but I think it will. I think (hope) that the Apple "faithful" aren't the lemmings the Wintel / Android crowd wants to me us out to be, and that eventually we will stop mindlessly accepting every change Apple makes, even when those changes come with significant downsides. I suggest you do what I did before you upgrade; find someone who has upgraded and play with their device first. If you love it, then great, but if you find that the problems outweigh the advantages then hold off and, most importantly, let Apple know!
     
Spheric Harlot
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Sep 22, 2013, 03:09 PM
 
They haven't degraded the experience.

They've improved it in the vast majority of ways that they've changed.

They redesigned it for a world six years post-iPhone. Almost everybody has had some interaction with touch-based devices now, and it makes sense to slowly move the interface away from emulating real-world interaction into a more effective use of the world-behind-glass.
     
panjandrum
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Sep 22, 2013, 04:05 PM
 
Well, there are always people who are willing to be "fanboys" of nearly anything. The difference between a fan and a fanboy being that the fan is willing to say when something has gone right, or wrong, whereas the fanboy defends their pet "whatever" with next to zero objectivity. I've played with iOS7 quite a bit now, and it is definitely a downgraded experience in many way. It is also *upgraded* in many ways. All those features you can now turn off and on with only a swipe up and a click? Well that's great. The "hard to see" part? Well, that just plain sucks. I'm not saying you aren't welcome to "like" the new interface more. But if you will seriously sit-back and defend iOS7 as not having degraded the experience? Well, just do what I did. For example open Safari on an older device and an updated device; on which device are the functions on the screen more clear? It's pretty black-and white that the experience has been degraded. No matter how much you love Apple, try taking a step back and looking at it objectively.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Sep 22, 2013, 05:27 PM
 
I stopped reading at "fanboy".

Enjoy the rest of your evening.
     
panjandrum
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Sep 22, 2013, 06:14 PM
 
That's too bad, because it is well-thought-out, well-balanced, and unlike your comment not obviously intended to be rude. It's amazing the manners some people have on the internet. Read-up a little on "netiquette". Now, I'm going to guess here that you are quite young, but I would love to see an actual DISCUSION
     
panjandrum
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Sep 22, 2013, 06:25 PM
 
(Oops, accidental post before complete, sorry)... to continue... instead of an argument. Try actually reading what I wrote, and try doing it. If you have a legitimate point then make it and discuss it the way you (hopefully) would if we were discussing things face-to-face.

And trust me, I've been a fan-boy myself when I was younger, and had to learn that any blind-faith in any product is simply woefully misplaced. The type of arguments you use remind me a lot of myself when I was in my late-teens (man, I tell you Chevy could do no wrong to me! It took me 10 years and 3 complete unmitigated pieces of junk that GM dared to sell as "cars" before I learned that GM quality had vanished completely). We're all guilty of this type of behavior from time to time. What I suggest is that you step-back, look at the new vs. the old interface, and then rationally discuss it. I can guess that you really like iOS7, and that's great, but that's not what I'm talking about. Don't mistake your personal preferences for as being a valid indicator of quality. It's very possible to like something subjectively while understanding objectively that it's not necessarily good (cheez-whiz, anyone, anyone?)
     
Spheric Harlot
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Sep 22, 2013, 06:28 PM
 
I'm old enough to know that in 2013, discussion is over when somebody uses the fanboy argument.

I've also been using Macintosh and all other Apple interfaces for over twenty-five years, and spent ten years working in user support and troubleshooting.

Netiquette, back when it still existed, required abstaining from pure ad-hominem argumentation when somebody challenged what amounts to your opinion.
     
panjandrum
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Sep 22, 2013, 06:45 PM
 
I'm sorry, but what if I simply say "I'm old enough to know that in 2013 the argument is over as soon as someone uses "the discussion is over". Do you see the problem? Now, fanboy is a pretty-clearly defined term. I've admitted to being one in the past myself and give an example. I'm trying very hard to have a rational discussion with you. I've included specific examples of the type of thing I refer to as "degrading the experience", and I've capitulated the point that there are things about the new interface that I think are fairly clearly better. I'm not even suggesting at this point that people shouldn't upgrade or anything like that; I simply pointed out that there is at least one clear way in which (objectively) Apple has taken a step backwards.

But one of us here is clearly and consistently displaying fanboy behavior.

( http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fanboy )

So instead, why don't you rebut my point with an example. Am I wrong? Is the interface actually easier to see than it used to be? Tell me how I am wrong, make your point and discuss it properly. Is that a possibility or should I just give up?
     
Miniryu
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Sep 22, 2013, 07:05 PM
 
Well I've had experience with designing user interfaces, it is pretty obvious that Apple chose to emphasize aesthetic design over user experience. I agree that iOS 6 was starting to look stale and needed an upgrade. However, they messed with the functionality when updating the look.
For example, try opening a folder, then launch an app outside of the folder. It takes an extra step in iOS 7, an since the folders open and close more slowly than before, this is a very annoying step. Another example of lost functionality is that you can only see 9 apps in a folder at a time. This was done PURELY for aesthetics, and is something that I don't think Steve Jobs would have allowed were he still around.

I'll also add that there a number of swipe gesture bugs (e.g. Try 4-finger pinching out of the Newsstand app), but I'm sure those will get fixed soon.

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Charles Martin
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Sep 22, 2013, 08:03 PM
 
I'll rebut your argument with an example: I have weakening eyes. In point of fact, in most places the thinner but MUCH LARGER font is in fact *easier* for me to see than it was previously. I too have a device still on iOS 6, and the difference in clarity at normal user distance is startling -- in iOS 7's favor.

Starting with the time and passcode on the lockscreen, to the email text, to Notes (PRAISE JEEBUS those stupid pen fonts are gone!!), to Reminders, to Calendar and Contacts. My biggest complaint is that the design uses too much white (or more accurately, that not enough apps have a "night mode!"), but on font legibility I'm having no problems at all, which is delightful.

Having said that, a friend of mine who is even "blinder" than I am has turned on the option in Accessibility to make the font bolder (and larger). So if you're having that problem, there's a simple fix.

As for the folders, you appear to have failed to notice that a) not only are nine icons *per screen* in a folder much EASIER to see, but b) you can now put as many icons in a folder as you want (there was a limit of I think 16 before). HOW exactly is that "a loss of functionality?" In the real world, we call that a GAIN of functionality.

One post about this was one thing, but after a whole series harping on the same disproven points over and over when there's an easy fix ... I stopped reading when the tired old (and grossly incorrect) "Steve would never have allowed this" card got played. It's an unserious argument that undermines your credibility.
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Spheric Harlot
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Sep 23, 2013, 01:22 AM
 
Originally Posted by panjandrum View Post
I'm sorry, but what if I simply say "I'm old enough to know that in 2013 the argument is over as soon as someone uses "the discussion is over". Do you see the problem? Now, fanboy is a pretty-clearly defined term. I've admitted to being one in the past myself and give an example. I'm trying very hard to have a rational discussion with you. I've included specific examples of the type of thing I refer to as "degrading the experience", and I've capitulated the point that there are things about the new interface that I think are fairly clearly better. I'm not even suggesting at this point that people shouldn't upgrade or anything like that; I simply pointed out that there is at least one clear way in which (objectively) Apple has taken a step backwards.

[...]

Is that a possibility or should I just give up?
If you are unable to entice anybody into discussion without preemptively discrediting any possible opposing viewpoint as ravings of blind loyalism, I suggest you give up until you've figured out why you're doing it wrong.


After about a week and a half with the new OS, my experience is thus: they've vastly improved the experience, but there are some minor (IMO) usability issues (such as weakened drop shadows making icon labels less legible on the home screen).
     
panjandrum
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Sep 23, 2013, 10:51 AM
 
Overall I'm also impressed with the new features. I'm also a big fan of the aesthetics of iOS7 so far (we will have to see how soon this new UI starts to seem "stale") I do think if you take the "side by side" test I suggest that you'll immediately see what I mean however. I'm talking about the differentiation between elements being reduced and leading to an overall reduction in ease of use, one that could have been avoided with only a small amount of consideration. For example, look at the keyboards side by side, and I think you'll agree (probably) on which of the two the seperation of the keys is more visible, especially when touch-typing and viewing the keyboard out of the corner of your-eye (analogous to similar problems on some physical keyboards, where the gap between keys is easier to see out of your peripheral vision on some keyboards than on others). I see this same problem with many other elements - for example regardless of how beautiful I think the monochrome blue-outline icons are for many functions/buttons I find myself wishing they were multicolored or had more detail or were in some way more clearly defined. It's much the same problem we started seeing in Lion on the Mac, and something that's been discussed a lot on the web. I'm a big fan of aesthetics, both in terms of hardware in a UI, it's one reason I tend to like Apple products a lot. I think it is a shame that aesthetics have seeminglu taken priority over usability at Apple more than in the past. I have no problem with the fonts though, they are clear and I find them easy to read. I do think the bold version is a great option (less attractive but easier to read. Maybe Apple should include something similar as an option for those who prefer function over form. Like a simple "use colorful icons" option.)

Ps. Comment about Steve Jobs was not mine.
     
abbaZaba
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Sep 24, 2013, 09:18 AM
 
They took a step forward by allowing unlimited items in a folder but a half step back by limiting to 9 visibile items at once. It MAY be debatable that 9 is "okay" on an iPhone, but on an iPad it is simply a gross waste of space.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Sep 24, 2013, 12:52 PM
 
That's also an improvement, because now, the view you get when tapping on a folder is exactly what you see in the preview icon.

There was some criticism prior to iOS 7 of the discrepancy between nine items shown, and twelve/sixteen arranged in a different way when you open the folder.

Just goes to show that Apple can't please everybody, ever.
     
shifuimam
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Sep 24, 2013, 02:50 PM
 
Originally Posted by abbaZaba View Post
They took a step forward by allowing unlimited items in a folder but a half step back by limiting to 9 visibile items at once. It MAY be debatable that 9 is "okay" on an iPhone, but on an iPad it is simply a gross waste of space.
There is very little about iOS that is really fine-tuned for the iPad. Sure, you can you view your mail folders and a mail message simultaneously in Mail, but the whole Springboard concept is a giant waste of space on an iPad.
Sell or send me your vintage Mac things if you don't want them.
     
   
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