What it is: iOS is Apple’s mobile operating system for both the iPhone and iPad.
Every time a new version of an operating system comes out, there’s usually problems. First, many programs that worked on the previous version of the operating system often fail or act erratically under the new operating system. Second, the new operating system is often buggy and error-prone itself, creating problems even using it.
Surprisingly, Apteligent claims that iOS 9.3 only has a crash rate of just 2.2 percent, which even surpasses Android, which has a crash rate around 2.6 percent.Crashes are annoying and frustrating, but they’re simply a part of life when using any computer. Ideally you want an operating system to do its job and stay out of the way. As a general rule, you want to avoid updating to the latest operating system until the company irons the bugs out, so t’s generally prudent to stay behind a version of the operating system that actually works with no surprises.
Ideally, an operating system should be invisible. The only time you should ever notice an operating system is when it fails. The fact that iOS 9.3 appears (so far) more stable than its predecessors bodes well, but unless this trend continues, don’t expect iOS 9.4 to be even more stable than iOS 9.3.
Stability alone is rarely a selling point of any operating system. What really matters is the software library available for that particular operating system. One reason why iOS and Android are so popular is because a huge app community has sprung up around both operating systems. One reason why Windows Phone continues to languish has nothing to do with the stability of that operating system but with its available app selection.
Few developers want to write apps for Windows Phone because Windows Phone has such a small market share. In return, few customers want to buy a Windows Phone device because it offers far fewer apps than iOS or Android. This vicious circle keeps Windows Phone forever locked in a chicken or the egg dilemma where developers won’t write apps for a small market and customers won’t grow that market because it offers so few compelling apps for them to use.
So the stability of iOS 9.3 is something for Apple to be proud about, but they still need to keep improving their software quality every year anyway. If iOS 9.3 is a trend towards greater software stability, that would go a long way towards making the iPhone and iPad the best products ever, far beyond any hardware improvements.
To read more about iOS 9.3, click here.