Early estimates suggest iOS 26 is off to a slow start, but our own data hints that the reality may be more nuanced than the headlines imply.
The gloomy picture
A recent report from Macworld, citing worldwide market share data from StatCounter, puts iOS 26 adoption at a measly 18% or so. That’s dramatically lower than we’ve come to expect by January, and the piece argues that backlash against the new Liquid Glass design could be a major factor putting users off updating.
There’s no doubt Liquid Glass has been controversial, but it’s hard to believe those changes would suppress upgrades to this degree, especially when many users update automatically and barely notice what’s changed.
A very different view from our app
When we checked the stats for our own Tips & Tricks app – which you might well be reading this in right now – the numbers told a very different story. Around 70% of our active users are already on iOS 26, with most of the rest still on iOS 18 and only a tiny minority running anything older.
That puts adoption much closer to what we usually see at this point in the cycle. In previous years, Apple has reported January adoption figures comfortably north of 70% for the latest iOS release, making the StatCounter numbers feel suspiciously negative.
So who’s right?
Perhaps you, dear reader, are part of an elite subset of extremely switched-on iPhone users. Or maybe StatCounter’s data, which likely includes forgotten or barely used devices, isn’t especially accurate this year. The reality is probably somewhere in between.
What seems clear is that while Liquid Glass has ruffled feathers, Apple is on course to make amends – sort of. The executive responsible for the design overhaul has left the company, and you can tone down the transparency effects in Settings.
If Apple follows last year’s pattern, it won’t be too long before official iOS 26 adoption figures land and put the debate to bed. Until then, we’re left reading between the lines – and comparing imperfect data sets.