Moving more rapidly than the adoption rate after the release of iOS 8, roughly 40 percent of Apple users have upgraded to iOS 8.4 in about a week. Alternatively, it took nearly two weeks for 40 percent of users to adopt the base version of iOS 8 during mid-September 2014. This data is being tracked by a third party analytics company called MixPanel. The site is also reporting that roughly 88 percent of compatible Apple devices have been upgraded to a version of iOS 8.
It’s likely that the adoption of iOS 8.4 is being driven by the popularity of Apple Music. To entice users into using or switching to the streaming music service, Apple is currently offering three months of music streaming for free. After the initial three months, the cost is $10 per month for an individual plan or $15 per month for a family plan.
This is clearly putting the pressure on other music streaming companies such as Spotify and Tidal. Both companies have made strides this week to compete more effectively against Apple Music. Spotify has launched an email campaign to encourage users to unsubscribe from Apple’s subscription payments plan and save money by subscribing directly to Spotify. In addition, Tidal has launched a new family plan for music streaming, but at a higher cost than Apple Music’s family plan.
During Fall 2015, Apple plans on releasing the next major version of the company’s mobile operating system, iOS 9. Upgrades within iOS 9 include public transit direction baked into Apple’s mapping application, upgrades to Siri’s understanding of the spoken word, a battery-save mode to preserve device power on busy days and a variety of upgrades to apps such as Find My Friends and the News app.
