On Monday, May 7, Apple released the latest version of its mobile software, iOS 5.1.1. The release represented a sigh of relief for iOS device users, as Apple had finally patched some security features of earlier iOS versions.
The most important fix addressed an issue surrounding Mobile Safari. More specifically, users were susceptible to a potential attacker deceiving them and directing them to a malicious site, among other serious vulnerabilities. This presented a tremendous threat to iOS 5.1 users, as security experts believe that users could have unwittingly supplied private information, their Apple ID, or even credit card information to attackers. Other fixes with the upgrade simply increased usability of the device. Experts warn that it is imperative to upgrade your device as soon as you have a chance.
Here at Chitika Insights our team was interested in seeing just how adamant iOS users were in their quest for secure browsing. We combed through tens of millions of ad impressions across our network, looking for devices that were utilizing any sort of iOS based software. From there we refined our results by breaking out iOS 5.1.1 devices and took a 24-hour rolling average in order to determine usage rates. Our data paints an interesting picture.
According to our network data, Apple users (being the early adopters that they are) heeded experts’ warnings. Our network started to demonstrate a spike in iOS 5.1.1 traffic around 5:00 PM EST on May 7, trending upward to a high of 12.3% of all iOS traffic by May 10. This preliminary report shows a somewhat rapid pace of adoption, a trend that should persist, given the popularity of the iPad and iPhone devices.
However, in comparison to an earlier study done by Chitika Insights, the iOS 5.1.1 release showed a somewhat less enthused consumer in terms of adoption rate. We attribute this primarily to the fact that the iOS 5.1 release had a number of user interface upgrades, which could be perceived as more exciting compared to the more recent release of iOS 5.1.1, which dealt primarily with the aforementioned security update.
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