iOS 26 adoption rate is great

[RockRock8]

The recent AppleInsider "article" about this whole bullshit saga illustrates the problem: tech websites can't actually commit to saying something other people aren't.

They write the headline, "iOS 26 adoption isn't record-breaking, but reports of extremely low rates are flawed," then go into a long article about how a bunch of websites inaccurately reported that iOS 26 adoption was low. Something I didn't know, because I refuse to read MacRumors, was that MacRumors falsely backed up this claim by showing visitor logs to their website to "show" iOS 26 adoption was way lower.

AppleInsider then goes into a bit of detail about something I read about beforehand, which is that iOS 26 is changing how UserAgent strings work. Simply put, that is likely why methods that use websites looking at traffic are implausibly inaccurate.

The problem though is that they refuse to even bring up alternate means of verification, like TelemetryDeck, or reaching out to developers, who could provide numbers on adoption. Had they done either, they would have found the same thing: 55-65% unofficial rate.

They then end the article with that should have been the damn thesis: "only Apple knows the real number. They'll be taking about it soon, as they always do in January."


So not only do they put the true thesis at the end of the article, they then immediately backtrack in the comments: "Yeah, there's no question that adoption is slower than prior versions. It's just not ridiculously lower as reported by Statcounter."

The problem with this is that Apple themselves confirmed iOS 26 was the most widely downloaded beta of all time. How do you reconcile saying people should wait for official numbers, then refuse to actually acknowledge those official numbers when released? Nowhere in this article did they mention Apple's official statements

Hence why I also mostly quit reading AppleInsider. It was hilarious to see people call them out for clickbait on an article awhile ago, and the writers were all pissed off saying they weren't. As I pointed out in my "Apple confirms Google technology, not Gemini, will help power Siri" post, they constantly try to have it both ways: at times publishing fair headlines, most other times publishing clickbait.

AppleInsider: "Google Gemini tech will be used in the all-new Siri after major Apple AI deal"

AppleInsider: "No, Google Gemini will not be taking over your iPhone, Apple Intelligence, or Siri"

 

[RockRock8]

The news media blew it again: iOS 26 adoption measured only third-party browsers

A pretty good takedown of these tech sites.

As I said before, the only number that matters is Apple's official numbers. Unofficial numbers are fine, but honestly useless.

Everything else is pointless bullshit speculation that has the sole and sole purpose of generating money for these companies like MacRumors and The Verge
. That's why I went so hard on this. I don't respect the piles of crap that run MacRumors or any of these sites

 

[throAU]

Liquid glass for me is…. fine.

I was a skeptic but it’s not actually the problems i expected that are an issue. I expected poor readability everywhere but for me the big thing is UI layout bugs in the ipad windowing environment and the excessively rounded corners everywhere on both mac and ipad.

other than that, it’s been stable and performant for me on all my devices - iphone 16 pro max, ipad air m1, ipad pro m5 and macbook pro m4 max.

 

[NotEntirelyConfused]

I mean, like I said, I wasn't here to discredit your personal opinion, only discredit the notion that in general people don't like iOS 26

You have no reasonable data to back that up. Note that I'm not making the opposite claim (though I would bet that way if I had to bet) - I don't have any useful data either.

You can like a car but not like its paint job. And depending on your interactions with that car - say, driving it 8 hours a day, or just putting it up for display in your garage - the paint job may or may not have any impact on your choice to own that car or not. (And yes that's not a perfect analogy, as Liquid Glass affects the actual use of the device, unlike a car's paint job, but I think it still makes the point.)

We may never have a good picture of LG's popularity. And the adoption rate is unlikely to say much about it, as most users won't even know about it before they upgrade.

Fully agree about MR and AI though - they suck, which is a shame, because they didn't always.

 

[RockRock8]

You have no reasonable data to back that up

Respectfully, I do, and I've already explained it in bullet point form with sources. I hope you'll get to enjoy liquid glass one day, and I hope they fix any bugs you're experiencing!

 

[NotEntirelyConfused]

As a reminder, the point being discussed right now is "the notion that in general people don't like iOS 26", not the adoption rate.

Respectfully, I do, and I've already explained it in bullet point form with sources. I hope you'll get to enjoy liquid glass one day, and I hope they fix any bugs you're experiencing!

I think you are confusing "data" with "relevant data".

For example, you keep citing beta downloads. You haven't established that a beta download implies any level of approval or appreciation for LG.

My counter-anecdata (which is also, broadly, worthless, but establishes a viable alternative narrative) is that I updated to iOS 26, while still disliking LG.

I think the only way to get a good read on this is a survey of LG users to find their sat rate with the LG interface - as opposed to sat rate for the phone as a whole, which is very different. And that would be very hard to discern, as most users who are not crazy enough to spend time in fora like this will have a hard time distinguishing between those two concepts.

Note that I'm not saying that that's impossible to do, just that it would require careful design. That makes it very unlikely to happen unless Apple decides to spend money on it, and if they do, there's about zero chance they tell anyone the results.

 

[RockRock8]

For example, you keep citing beta downloads. You haven't established that a beta download implies any level of approval or appreciation for LG.

If people didn't like it, then why would they make it the most downloaded beta in iOS history lol? The update WAS liquid glass. That was the whole point: liquid glass.I specifically said in my reply "do the masses hate iOS 26?" And I said explained why I thought not.

The entire premise of the clickbait articles is that people don't approve of iOS 26 because of low download rates, but then the opposite of that must at least be neutral or positive. If downloaded rates are similar to iOS 18, then they clearly don't hate iOS 26.

Downloaded rates are relevant, to an extent. Would you honestly be sitting here asking for a consumer survey asking if people loved iOS 26 if only 16% of people ever downloaded it? Maybe you would, but I'm pretty sure not.

And It wasn't merely beta downloads. I'm going to put into what I said again in an earlier comment:

I'm certainly not telling you that your personal, current feelings regarding iOS 26 and macOS 26 are wrong; but do the masses hate iOS 26?

Given:

1) Tim Cook said iOS 26 was the most downloaded beta of all time by far, and

2) TelemetryDeck suggests 1.3-1.5 billion people have installed it, and

3) Tim Cook said the new iPhones had record sales that "the December quarter's revenue to be the best ever for the company and the best ever for iPhone," and

4) Tim Cook said customer satisfaction for iPhone was at 97%, and

5) Software is literally the thing you interact with 24/7 100% of the time with a smartphone, then

It just seems fundamentally unlikely that the hatred online matches real life experiences and customers' opinions and feelings. People hate change, I get it, but social media is disconcordant with the facts.

I updated to iOS 26, while still disliking LG.

Which is why I cited more than just download rates for iOS betas or public OS downloads. I also said iPhones were selling the most in history (projected guidance), and the customer satisfaction was at 97%. iPhone hardware is nice, but software is what you interact with. Apple markets iOS in nearly every single iPhone ad. They've rearranged their entire store to be more liquid glass like.

The entire selling point of Apple products is the software with the hardware. To consumers, it is what they're buying. If they didn't like it, why would they be buying the iPhone in droves and have a high customer satisfaction rate to boot?

As I said before, all of these points suggest the masses don't hate or dislike iOS 26.

interface - as opposed to sat rate for the phone as a whole, which is very different

I can't agree with that, because The software is what you use. It's the phone. This isn't a toaster or a fridge, where the hardware is the use. The hardware is the "outer part" so to speak. It's the software that you actually use. Sensors and chips and antennas mean nothing without any software. That's the product. If people hated it, people wouldn't be buying it let alone have a 97% rate. I am not saying that iOS 26 has a direct 97% rate, but It would be pretty close to that number. The software is inextricable from an iPhone.

The only thing I could see is having a high return rate with iOS as the cited reason. I've seen literally zero articles, even from MacRumors, that suggest iPhone is having way higher than expected return rates with iOS as the cited reason. Suffice to say, personal opinions vary but the masses don't hate iOS 26, and I am so bold (not really) to say it's actually the one-two punch combo of the new hardware and software that has led iPhone to its highest sales ever

 

[NotEntirelyConfused]

[...]I am so bold (not really) to say it's actually the one-two punch combo of the new hardware and software that has led iPhone to its highest sales ever

Noting you've written about mass approval for LG even remotely comes close to proof. They're just your opinions. You are certainly entitled to them, and with this message I'm done arguing against them, but that's all they are. Opinions.

 

[mr_roboto]

If people didn't like it, then why would they make it the most downloaded beta in iOS history lol?

Event #1: Person downloads iOS beta (for any reason whatsoever, some of which have nothing to do with Liquid Glass).
Event #2: Person discovers whether or not they actually like LG.

Beta download count doesn't tell you anything at all about whether people like Liquid Glass.

 

[RockRock8]

Noting you've written about mass approval for LG even remotely comes close to proof. They're just your opinions. You are certainly entitled to them, and with this message I'm done arguing against them, but that's all they are. Opinions.

Yes, that last part of my comment is my opinion, which I based on what I saw. Hence the "I'm so bold" part, folllowed up by the "not really" because I'm not randomly saying stuff, but reasonably surmising. Those 5 bullet points i wrote are facts. Those aren't opinion. And It is really not that controversial (as in not at all) to say iPhone and Apple had and has big sales compared to competitors for its software/hardware integration that was and is design led. That is literally Apple's competitive edge entirely.

That said, I've repeatedly stated in the "analysis" part of my comments "do the masses hate iOS 26?" "No." Me claiming that all of this might indicate be the OPPOSITE of what MacRumors and others so desperately want to believe (that iOS 26 is a failure and there is no way iOS 26 contributes to sales increases) has been a very small part of my comments here

Also I take issue with you constantly characterizing my usage of actual statistics and official statements by Apple as anecdotal, but more so that your personal experience regarding iOS 26 is somehow equivalent to any of the statistics I've listed. Disagree all day about if iOS 26 is awesome or bad, but please do not sit here claiming I'm citing 1.5 billion people downloading iOS 26, Tim Cook saying iOS 26 is the most downloaded beta in history, iPhone sales skyrocketing to record sales (projected), and customer satisfaction at 97% as ANECDOTAL evidence. This is such an insulting lie especially considering I actually spend time researching the stuff I cite. The stuff I cite is the literal opposite of it.

Equating Human Interface Design to a paint job on a car is absolutely absurd. It doesn't even make sense as a limited metaphor. Human interface is literally how the product works. It's exactly equivalent to all the fundamentals of a car and its use as a tool, not a paint job. That's why if it is done incorrectly or poorly, products don't succeed or have limited success. It's also precisely why Apple succeeds in every category they enter, and exactly why Apple has such a renowned and profound reputation as a tech industry disrupter: human interface. It's also why Apple wants to nail the fundamentals of a product on day one, and why people think Apple products never "change ever."

Event #1: Person downloads iOS beta (for any reason whatsoever, some of which have nothing to do with Liquid Glass).
Event #2: Person discovers whether or not they actually like LG.

Beta download count doesn't tell you anything at all about whether people like Liquid Glass.

I accidentally pressed follow on your account, sorry.

I've already articulated why I think this response is wrong multiple times. This is just going in circles, now with another person. Some people clearly have a colored opinion of liquid glass, and that's fine. Maybe in time it changes, maybe it doesn't. I hope for your happiness that you like it in time, and that Apple improves design as they always have.

Last thing I'll say is this: if iOS 26 was the least downloaded (downloaded rate / total downloads) in iOS history, plus iPhones sales dropped, and customer satisfaction decreased, I have a strong feeling you wouldn't be here saying that we don't know liquid glass is the reason. You'd at least consider at as a major reason. After all, with technology and specifically an iPhone, the software IS the product. This keeps getting ignored in responses.

It's true, we don't LITERALLY know the reason, you'd need a direct survey asking, but we can make reasoning based on the available evidence with the context that the software is the product for a phone.

This is especially the case when a major upgrade's headlining feature is the UI refresh. I mean, it's a little absurd to sit here and say people didn't want to at least try it (indication of desire based on what they see). iOS 26's headliner was and is liquid glass. The majority of the keynote, ads, and time spent in interviews discussed liquid glass.

iPhone massively increased in sales, not only because Apple was willing to branch out and rethink the iPhone (like increasing screen sizes in response to market). It was also the decision to rethink iOS, and be able to branch out from that. Many long time requested features, like Control Center, full feature background multitasking, and opening up iOS to more customization brought in a ton more customers. iOS 7 was a far more dramatic change than iOS 26 was, with iOS 26 being far more like iOS 7 than iOS 7 was to iOS 6. I just find it extremely implausible that the masses hate iOS 26 when both the changes are relatively minimal, plus all of the statistics and official statements from Apple I've used.

I've been very clear to not articulate my opinion and say "well it must be doing well because it's so awesome." I've used third party sources and direct evidence from Apple that suggests the masses do not hate iOS 26.

I cannot say anything else other than that. I hope for those who aren't initially happy with the changes that in time it becomes better for you and you become happy with it, not for Apple's sake but for those people. I just like for people to be happy, that is all.

Thanks for reading.

 

[NotEntirelyConfused]

This is such an insulting lie

Yeah, now you're getting personal. If you're going to call me a liar, I will say out loud what I didn't say before. I agree with @mr_roboto that your posts are a ridiculous display of fanboyism. (This coming from someone who has had a Mac (or several) on his desktop since 1984, and an Apple ][ before that.) You can like Apple as a company, love their products, and still be capable of seeing flaws when they exist. Well, most people can. Not you, I guess.

Citing facts does not make conclusions true. Or even reasonable.

 

[Cmaier]

Let’s all tone it down, please. Also remember that you can block other users, which is the best way to deal with some situations.

 

[NotEntirelyConfused]

Let’s all tone it down, please. Also remember that you can block other users, which is the best way to deal with some situations.

Sorry. And, good point. I didn't realize that feature existed. OK, done. (Or, as we used to say in the old days of killfiles, "plonk".)

 

[Nycturne]

I'm just going to drop this here: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/202...s-26-because-of-liquid-glass-its-complicated/

A bit more of a dive into data, and points out a possible reason why the StatCounter data is likely so off this time around.

 

[RockRock8]

I'm just going to drop this here: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/202...s-26-because-of-liquid-glass-its-complicated/

A bit more of a dive into data, and points out a possible reason why the StatCounter data is likely so off this time around.

I appreciate you mentioning this, and I already mentioned this USER AGENT problem too in previous comments, which I'll quote that had the URL

That comment section is... well, they didn't read the article.

The news media blew it again: iOS 26 adoption measured only third-party browsers

A pretty good takedown of these tech sites.

As I said before, the only number that matters is Apple's official numbers. Unofficial numbers are fine, but honestly useless.

Everything else is pointless bullshit speculation that has the sole and sole purpose of generating money for these companies like MacRumors and The Verge
. That's why I went so hard on this. I don't respect the piles of crap that run MacRumors or any of these sites

 

[RockRock8]

Yeah, now you're getting personal. If you're going to call me a liar, I will say out loud what I didn't say before. I agree with @mr_roboto that your posts are a ridiculous display of fanboyism. (This coming from someone who has had a Mac (or several) on his desktop since 1984, and an Apple ][ before that.) You can like Apple as a company, love their products, and still be capable of seeing flaws when they exist. Well, most people can. Not you, I guess.

Citing facts does not make conclusions true. Or even reasonable.

Your characterization was what I took issue with, not you. Why did you jump from that to "oh so you're calling me a liar now?" ??

And your quoted snippet leaves out why I took actual offense: "...considering I actually spend time researching the stuff I cite." Your comments cited and explained nothing about how customer satisfaction rates for iPhone are in no way indicative of satisfaction for the software.

I wanted to hear an explanation on that, especially since the entire point of iPhone from the beginning was the software and human interface. It's literally what distinguishes iPhone from smartphones before, and is not separable from the iPhone. It's why BlackBerry went out of existence

Don't people come here from... MacRumors, primarily? a fan site for Apple? Or am I wrong? I am allowed to post analysis and be a fan at the same time. Don't dismiss what I say simply because I'm positive. I'm allowed to post positive stuff about Apple on a forum with a user base who likes Apple.

All of your comments on this post ignore the facts I cited and equates them to mere "anecdata," including your personal opinion and experience of iOS 26. I was nice and patient with that, and you kept pushing, saying it means nothing, simply because you don't want to entertain the possibility that people aren't actually bothered by liquid glass. I spent a lot of time researching stuff I wrote. Simply passing it off as nothing and equating statistics to your personal opinion is insulting, as I wrote in my previous reply.

I never sought to invalidate anyone's individual experience, only the falsity that Apple's adoption rate is low. I repeatedly tried to be nice and was genuine in my hope that one day you'll come around to the new designs for your own personal happiness, and that Apple improves the designs as they always have done

Your final point that I can't see areas where Apple could improve is your opinion. There's more than enough criticism about Apple. However, I see next to zero people writing the analysis and pointing the stuff out about what Apple is doing that I did, and that's valuable, to most people anyways.

 

[RockRock8]

I wrote another comment using more sources and detailed it, but honestly I'm kind of over arguing with people, especially when I cite direct sources and people dismiss it, so I've edited more stuff out.
Suffice to say, if you care, I found developer data of two of the most popular apps on the App Store vs TelemetryDeck that suggest launch day rates of for iOS 26 were 5 times higher than iOS 18 (21% for iOS 26 and 4% for iOS 18).

This isn't a perfect comparison because it's developer data vs TelemetryDeck. Also, Apple turned on iOS 26 auto update later than iOS 18 according to that developer, which he analyzed for latter adoption rate curves.

Also, TelemetryDeck says their data is flawed because it typically measures technically minded apps and users. I say TelemetryDeck is flawed because the total user numbers change from time period to time period. There is something off about that, and it's shown through over representing iOS 18 vs Apple's iOS 18 actual rate.

If someone cares, you can either believe me or search sources for yourself. If you don't care, no amount of data is going to change your mind potentially. I triple checked the sources and calculations.

The 5 times higher rate is actually accurate. To be clear, I found two different graphs from the developer. The first graph compared two of his apps for iOS 18 launch day rates. Interestingly, they diverged later on between the 2 apps. The latter second graph showed far more precise data, but only showed a 1 rate line. So either he averaged them, or used one app or the other app; however, I will say that early on both apps showed the exact same adoption in the 1st graph, that it doesn't matter. With that methodology, you can look at the 2nd precise graph. Using this, iOS 26 had a 5X higher adoption rate than iOS 18 on launch day rate.

(iOS 26 TelemetryDeck number, iOS 18 developer)

Of course, launch day adoption rate doesn't indicate long term adoption rate, but it DOES indicate demand, and since iOS 26 headliner feature was and is liquid glass, it's very clear that people did and do desire the design.

It's very clear: iOS 26 is a success; the new iPhone flagship line up is a success; and these tech websites spew bullshit and hatred and should no longer be trusted with even the most basic statistics, let alone interpretation. This is my last comment on this matter. We now await actual statistics from Apple one way or another. I think we can all agree this post was way more insightful than any of these crappy sites

MacRumors is not anyone's friend.

 

[Andropov]

I've seen telemetry data coming from an app (so no UserAgent shenanigans) reporting iOS 26 being in ~67% of iPhones.

Also (this may be totally anecdotical) I feel like Apple has been less aggressive at pushing the iOS 26 update to users. Several weeks after the iOS 26 release, my iPad was still showing "update to iOS 18.7.2" in the software update settings page. I had to manually navigate to "Other updates > iOS 26.0" to update the iPad to iOS 26. May have been a thing on previous years too, but I hadn't personally run into it before.

 

[Cmaier]

I've seen telemetry data coming from an app (so no UserAgent shenanigans) reporting iOS 26 being in ~67% of iPhones.

Also (this may be totally anecdotical) I feel like Apple has been less aggressive at pushing the iOS 26 update to users. Several weeks after the iOS 26 release, my iPad was still showing "update to iOS 18.7.2" in the software update settings page. I had to manually navigate to "Other updates > iOS 26.0" to update the iPad to iOS 26. May have been a thing on previous years too, but I hadn't personally run into it before.

yeah, it does feel that they were more aggressive previously - my wife is always late to upgrade until they sort of shove it in front of her face each year, and this year I had to finally upgrade her.

On the other hand, my daughter (17) usually waits forever to update because she hates change, but this time she purposely sought the update out. (As I noted earlier, interestingly, when she finally got a new phone for christmas that was capable of running apple intelligence, she has never enabled it). So, anecdata - she wanted the upgrade, but she didn’t want any AI. I guess it was liquid glass and apple music playlist folders that she wanted, then.

 

[Roller]

yeah, it does feel that they were more aggressive previously - my wife is always late to upgrade until they sort of shove it in front of her face each year, and this year I had to finally upgrade her.

On the other hand, my daughter (17) usually waits forever to update because she hates change, but this time she purposely sought the update out. (As I noted earlier, interestingly, when she finally got a new phone for christmas that was capable of running apple intelligence, she has never enabled it). So, anecdata - she wanted the upgrade, but she didn’t want any AI. I guess it was liquid glass and apple music playlist folders that she wanted, then.

I've thought of upgrading my wife, but she's stuck with me for more than 35 years, so I think I'll keep the original version.

Seriously, my wife is generally good about getting dot updates on her own, but I always have to remind her about yearly iOS versions. I know there's been a lot of angst about iOS 26's UI/UX, but honestly she didn't have any problems with the transition, and she's not at all technically inclined or interested in making tweaks to settings.