Marco.org

I’m : a programmer, writer, podcaster, geek, and coffee enthusiast.

Updated iOS device and OS version stats from Instapaper

This is a quick update to my iOS device and OS version stats as reported by Instapaper 3.0.

The same disclaimers apply. This sample does not represent all iOS owners. Specifically, it only represents people who:

So it’s very useful to me, but the usefulness to you will vary.

Here’s the updated data from today:

The biggest differences from five months ago:

Over the last few months, these stats have helped me decide to raise the minimum OS requirement for Instapaper from 3.1 to 4.2 in its next release,1 due out probably within a few weeks. This will break compatibility for the 0.4% of customers still using original iPhones or first-generation iPod Touches.

Development and testing of the new release with iOS 4’s luxuries has been more productive and efficient than ever. My code is cleaner, I’ve deleted a lot of old hacks, and I’m able to do a lot of new features with far less code (like gesture recognizers). If I get an angry email from every one of my 5.4% of customers who don’t (but can) run 4.2, I’ll feel guilty and will probably have a crappy night, but it will have been worthwhile.


  1. Why 4.2 instead of 4.0? Fewer edge-cases, fewer old iPhones needed for testing, and fewer special cases in the code for missing APIs. Every device that can run 4.0 can also run 4.2.

    If I raised the requirement to 4.3, I’d lose iPhone 3G and second-generation iPod Touch owners. If I’m going to cut them off, I’d rather just wait until I can require 5.0, probably in late 2012. ↩︎