iOS 7.1
iOS 7.1 update prompt as seen from an iPhone (phone screenshot taken 3-14-2014) IBTimes AU

A few days ago, just several days after a minor 7.0.6 iOS update, Apple released a major update for their latest mobile platform - iOS 7.1. The update quickly spread throughout the users of Apple mobile devices in North America, with 12 percent adoption rate in two days, according to a study by Chitika.

Made available to the general public Monday, iOS 7.1 brought in a lot of improvements, bug fixes, security patches, and a slew of new features and upgrades to stock applications. As far as the latest iPhones are concerned, this new iOS version activates CarPlay support, and major upgrades to Siri and Touch ID fingerprint security. Overall, it also includes accessibility upgrades the Calendar, Camera, and iTunes Radio stock applications.

For legacy devices like the several-years-old iPhone 4, this new iOS version also brings in major improvements on performance and usability, as reported by ArsTechnica. According to the tests they made, overall snapiness for the iPhone 4 moved up several notches compared to iOS7.0, the previous major version.

As such, many Apple device users have apparently been eager to try out the new iOS 7.1, with adoption rates going to 12 percent in just 45 hours, in North America alone, according to an analysis made by Chitika, an internet advertising network. In a blog post in the Chitika website, they commented, "As with most minor version updates, iOS 7.1 adoption rates have been less dramatic than those of its major-version counterparts."

This is apparently "largely on par" with the adoption rate of the recently released minor iOS 7.0.6 update. However, the fact still remains that the last major stable iOS 7.0 is currently on more than 80 percent of Apple devices. Chitika further commented that Apple users are probably looking forward to iOS 8 more, "This likely represents a peak, as it has remained largely unchanged since our previous study (81 percent on February 25)."

"With this in mind, all eyes will be on iOS 8 and whether it can continue Apple's streak of higher rates of adoption for each successive major release," Chitika remarked.