Nearly one-third of iOS users upgraded to iOS 7 in the first 16 hours!

Adoption of Apple’s new version of iOS is off to a fast start. Nearly a third of iOS device owners have already upgraded to iOS 7 just 16 hours after the software was released. According to Mixpanel, by Thursday at 10:28am ET some 31.8 percent of iPhones, iPads and iPods had adopted the new operating system, noted for its flat design and a number of new features. Apple officially released the software on Wednesday at 1pm ET…

The Mixpanel announcement can be found here.

Go here for the interactive chart of iOS 7 adoption

By comparison, 24 hours after iOS 6 was released just fifteen percent of iOS device owners had adopted the new OS. Rival platform Android is saddled with a reputation of being fragmented due to the slow pace of OS adoption.

Compare this to Google’s most recent snapshot of Android OS version distribution.

As you can see, less than half of Android devices (or 45.1 percent) were on Android Jelly Bean version 4.1.x or 4.2.x, per data collected during a seven-day period ending on September 4, 2013.

Keep in mind that Jelly Bean was released alongside Google’s Nexus 7 tablet in June 0f 2012. Also important: Google’s data only counts Android devices that access its Play store, excluding gizmos that use forked Android version such as Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets and no-name Chinese cheapos.

In this week’s Bloomberg Businessweek cover story, Apple CEO Tim Cook mentioned both a NetAppliations survey that gave iOS devices a 55 percent share of all mobile web activity and an IBM research note saying iPads accounted for more than 88 percent of online shopping traffic from tablets during last Black Friday:

“For us, it matters that people use our products,” he said

And commenting on the widespread Google fragmentation, Cook said:

It will show up in developers. It will show up for people that no longer have access to certain apps. It will show up in security issues because if you’re not moving your customer base to the latest version, then you have to go back and plug holes in all of this old stuff, and people don’t really do that to a great degree.

Indeed, for developers, the solid support of iOS 7 means they can be assured apps written for the latest version of Apple’s mobile OS will be widely installed. While the vast majority of Apple’s user base quickly adopts the latest and greatest version of iOS, some people still use older hardware.

For them, Apple’s made it possible to download the last app version that was compatible with their hardware and iOS build. Also, the company today issued a note telling developers they can easily manage availability of apps’ previous versions using the iTunes Connect web portal.

How to get ready for today’s iOS 7 Public Release?[Updated!]

Last week, Apple announced that it would be releasing the latest version of its mobile operating system on Wednesday, September 18th. That’s today! And honestly, we couldn’t be more excited.

This will be the largest update to the platform since it was first introduced in 2007, bringing about an all-new design and several new features like Control Center, AirDrop sharing andiTunes Radio.

Of course, Apple has been seeding betas of iOS 7 to developers since June, but this is the first time it will be open to the public. So we thought we’d put this list together of things to help you get ready…

As usual, our first responsibility is to warn you that iOS 7 has not been successfully jailbroken yet. The evad3rs are working on it, but there’s no ETA. If you update, you will not be able to jailbreak.

It’s also worth noting here that we have seen some signs of an impending iOS 6.1.3/6.1.4 jailbreak being released to the public. So even if you’re not currently jailbroken, it may be worth it to wait.

Now that that’s out of the way, here’s some useful tips for those that plan on updating:

• Save your SHSH blobs – if you’ve ever jailbroken your device, or plan on doing so in the future, save your SHSH blobs. It just takes a couple of seconds, and it’s your only hope of ever being able to downgrade, should that ever become an option in the future.
• Check device compatibility – while iOS 7 will be available for a number of devices, not all of them will support all of its new features. AirDrop, for example, is only supported by the iPhone 5, iPad 4, iPad mini, and iPod touch 5. Click here for the complete list of device compatibility.
• Back up your devices – it’s always a good idea to backup your devices before updating to a new firmware. Sometimes, though it’s not common, updates can error out while installing, thus wiping out all of your data. You can backup your device either by syncing it with iTunes, or through the iCloud menu.
• Download the latest version of iTunes – right now, iTunes 11.0.5 is the latest version of the software, but we expect to see iTunes 11.1 land today. Either way, you’ll want to make sure you have the most recent version available so that you’ll have all the latest features and bug fixes.
• How to download iOS 7 – if Apple follows previous patterns, and we have no reason to believe that it won’t, iOS 7 will be available to users via both an over-the-air update and a full download through iTunes. If you’re unsure about which to go with, tune into iDB tomorrow for more information.

It’s also worth noting that not all apps have been updated to be compatible with the new firmware yet. So if you have an app, or apps, that you use everyday, it’s worth looking into them before you update.

We expect Apple to release iOS 7 around 8:00 PM ( Beirut Time ) . We’ll let you know as soon as it hits, and will be providing updates on new features and other commentary on the software throughout the day.

Apple releases iOS 6.0.1: fixes keyboard glitch, improves Wi-Fi and more.

Apple has this morning released an update to its mobile operating system, iOS 6.0.1. The update comes just a day before the official launch of Apple’s new 4th gen iPad and iPad mini.

In iTunes, updating to 6.0.1 is business as usual. But if you have an iPhone 5, you’ll likely see the above screen asking you to install an ‘Updater’ before you receive the actual update. As it states, the Updater fixes a bug that prevents the iPhone 5 from installing updates wirelessly over the air.

So what’s new in iOS 6.0.1? We’ve got the full change log after the break…

This update contains improvements and bug fixes, including:

• Fixes a bug that prevents iPhone 5 from installing software updates wirelessly over the air
• Fixes a bug where horizontal lines may be displayed across the keyboard
• Fixes an issue that could cause camera flash to not go off
• Improves reliability of iPhone 5 and iPod touch (5th generation) when connected to encrypted WPA2 Wi-Fi networks
• Resolves an issue that prevents iPhone from using the cellular network in some instances
• Consolidated the Use Cellular Data switch for iTunes Match
• Fixes a Passcode Lock bug which sometimes allowed access to Passbook pass details from lock screen
• Fixes a bug affecting Exchange meetings

So this is clearly more of a maintenance release than anything else. And unless you’re really suffering from one of the above problems, we don’t recommend updating if you’re hoping tojailbreak your device. iOS 6 has proven to be at least somewhat jailbreakable, we’re not sure about 6.0.1.

Anyway, if you are looking to update, you can do so by using the over the air installer in Settings > General > Update.