iOS 8 on 46 Percent of Apple Devices

In just five days, 46 percent of those with an iOS device are running iOS 8, according to Apple.

According to Cupertino’s developer support site(Opens in a new window), the next-generation operating system is swiftly catching up with iOS 7, which currently holds the lead with 49 percent, as of Sept. 21.

Only 5 percent of “earlier” systems are still running on iPods, iPhones, and iPads around the world.

Despite comparable figures, initial adoption of Apple’s new system has actually been significantly slower than the last two versions, according to new data from online ad network Chitika.

A full 24 hours after its release, iOS 8 was running on only 7.3 percent of devices in North America. That’s less than half of the 18.2 percent iOS 7 garnered in its first day. Chitika found that iOS 6 captured 14.8 percent of smartphones and tablets within the same time period.

Just shy of the halfway point, iOS 8 adoption is certainly moving at a rate much faster than Google, which suffers from increased fragmentation.

As of Sept. 9(Opens in a new window), 24.5 percent of Android devices running on the latest version of the mobile OS, KitKit. Almost 54 percent are still on Jelly Bean.

Apple announced its next-gen mobile operating system in June, announcing additions like Shazam integration, a Health app, connected home integration, support for third-party keyboards, and the new Family Sharing feature.

The update began rolling out on Sept. 17, placing people in a queue as servers became crowded, rather than serving up endless error messages like in previous years. Some have already complained of sluggish Wi-Fi since downloading the new OS or trying it out on the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

For more, see PCMag’s review of Apple iOS 8 and the slideshow above. Also check out 3 Features You Should Enable in iOS 8, as well as Before and After iOS 8: What’s Different?