iOS 9 adoption rate
Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 9 even lags behind the rate of adoption of iOS 7, which held about 80 percent share around the same time in 2014.Pictured: Customers hold the iPhone 6S during the official launch at the Apple store in Sydney, Sept. 25, 2015. Reuters/David Gray

For Apple, iOS 9 adoption is coming to a standstill, a sign that iPhone users are holding on to older devices longer. Of all iOS devices in use around the world, the percentage of iOS device users on the latest version of its mobile operating system has topped out at 77 percent, according to the latest metrics from its developer website.

That was the same percentage of devices running iOS 9 since the refresh on Feb. 8. While it’s still above the 72 percent of Apple devices that iOS 8 was installed on around the same time in 2015, both versions of the mobile operating system continue to lag behind their predecessor, iOS 7. Around January of 2014, that version of Apple’s iOS held an 80 percent share of installs on the company’s mobile devices in use by consumers around the world, according to MacRumors.

The majority of Apple’s remaining customers that haven’t upgraded to iOS 9 are predominantly on iOS 8, which holds a 17 percent share. Only 6 percent of iOS devices are running iOS 7 and lower.

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While adoption for iOS 9 has slowed to a virtual standstill, it still far outstripes the rate of adoption for Google’s latest mobile operating system, Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which was released in Oct. 2015. As of Feb. 1, the mobile OS held a miniscule share of all Android devices in use, at only 1.2 percent, according to Google’s developer page. It’s predecessor, Android Lollipop, which was released in 2014, maintains the second highest share of Android devices at 34.1 percent, while Android KitKat holds the highest share of devices at 35.5 percent.

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For Apple, a completely new version of iOS isn’t expected until at least the second half of 2016. But in the meantime, both developers and customers that have opted into its testing program are trying out a preview version of iOS 9.3, which is expected to bring features such as Touch ID-protected notes, additional health app widgets and a night shift feature which adjusts the colors of an iOS device’s display in the evening.

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