iOS 8 Adoption at 46%, or Maybe 35%

Apple's iOS 8 has reached a 46 percent adoption rate only six days after it was released, according to the company's developer site data. Tracking services Appsee and Mixpanel, however, are showing a lower adoption percentage at around 35 percent, which still accounts for a substantial number of iPhones and iPads upgrading in just a week.

Apple says first week iOS 8 adoption rate at 46%Apple says first week iOS 8 adoption rate at 46%

Apple first showed off iOS 8 earlier this year during its annual Worldwide Developer Conference, and then revealed more details during a special media event a week before its official release. The new version of the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch operating system sticks with the flatter look introduced in iOS 7, and adds in new features designed to make it easier for apps and devices to work together.

Not all of iOS 8's features are available yet, which may be holding back some users. Features that take advantage of iOS 8's ability to hand off tasks to other devices, for example, won't be available until OS X Yosemite for the Mac ships, and iCloud Drive is essentially hobbled until the Mac operating system update ships, too.

Appsee and Mixpanel are showing lower adoption rates than Apple at 35.5 percent for Appsee, and 33.4 percent for Mixpanel. While those numbers are noticeably lower than Apple's figure, they may not be contradictory because they're likely using different ways to track adoption rates.

Apple has its own data on iOS 8 downloads and installs, and is using that for its 46 percent figure. Appsee and Mixpanel are using data gathered from other points like app and online activity. Since the two tracking companies are working with a subset of devices for data collection, it stands to reason that they would show a lower adoption rate number compared to Apple.

Regardless of which adoption percentage you check, iOS 8 is still below the 50 percent mark, which puts it behind iOS 7 after its first week. Part of that slower adoption rate may be a side effect of Apple's decision to release iOS 8 without all of its features, and we may see a spike after those become available.

iOS 8 is a free update for the iPhone 4s and newer, the iPad 2 and newer, and the fifth generation iPod touch.