A lack of fragmentation has long been one of the more attractive aspects of iOS development, though apart from the odd announcement from Apple, recent figures on operating system use for the company’s mobile devices has not been easy to come by. Not that it’ll be a problem any more — you can just hit up Apple’s developer portal for a nice chart, one the company has to be happy with.
Of course, this is something Android developers have previously had access to for Google’s OS and includes screen sizes and other detailed information, though the picture it paints on the OS front isn’t a good one. While iOS 6 is installed on 93 per cent of devices, with six per cent using iOS 5 and lower versions bringing home the one per cent, Android 4.1-4.2, also known as Jelly Bean, only accounts for 33 per cent of installs.
(Coincidentally, the chart bares a striking resemblance to one we saw last year, with iOS 5 and 4 instead of 6 and 5, respectively.)
Various versions of Gingerbread account for the largest slice of the pie at 36.5 per cent, with Ice Cream Sandwich the next largest at 25.6 per cent.
For users, this isn’t a big deal — if you’re satisfied with your current OS, why go through the hassle of an upgrade? However, if you’re looking to create apps for Android and don’t have the resources to do comprehensive QA on multiple Android versions, not to mention devices, this just looks like a support nightmare.
Optimizing Apps For iOS 6 [Apple, via AppleInsider]
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3 responses to “Apple Now Has Fragmentation Stats For iOS, Though Google Still Provides More”
Doesn’t seem like a fair comparison as it only measures iOS devices from June 2013 and I’m assuming the Android chart accounts for total devices.
I’m calling bullshit on Apple’s numbers. What about all those original iPads out there? I have one and iOS 5.1.1 is the most recent you can install. Original iPads make up less than 7% of iOS devices?
They’re accurate for what they represent.
They represent iOS enabled devices that have accessed the App Store.
That won’t cover all devices, but its important information for developers (who the information was released to) as those other people using older versions don’t download apps anyways.