Episode Details

Apple has debunked media reports claiming low adoption of iOS 26. Chuck Joiner, David Ginsburg, Marty Jencius, Web Bixby, Jim Rea, Eric Bolden, and Jeff Gamet discuss the assertion that the data was skewed by Apple's privacy-driven device misreporting. They review how official numbers show strong uptake among eligible devices and debate whether criticisms of the new interface are overblown. While some UI concerns are acknowledged, the group agrees the release offers meaningful improvements and is far from the failure some headlines suggested.

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Chapters:

0:00 iOS adoption controversy introduced 0:28 Claims of low adoption challenged 2:04 Telemetry and agent string misreporting 3:50 Evaluating Apple's official adoption numbers 5:13 Privacy-driven device obfuscation explained 6:30 Clickbait and misinterpreted analytics reports 7:57 Debate over "liquid glass" interface complaints 9:03 Objective UI usability concerns raised 12:03 Design philosophy and Apple's UI direction 13:18 System Settings and long-term interface frustrations 15:49 Improvements and benefits in iOS 26 18:35 Broader reflections on Apple UI evolution 19:12 Overall assessment: not a disaster, but debated

Links:

Apple Reveals How Many iPhones Are Running iOS 26 https://www.macrumors.com/2026/02/13/apple-shares-ios-26-adoption-stats/

Guests:

Web Bixby has been in the insurance business for 40 years and has been an Apple user for longer than that.You can catch up with him on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, but prefers Bluesky.

Eric Bolden is into macOS, plants, sci-fi, food, and is a rural internet supporter. You can connect with him on Twitter, by email at embolden@mac.com, on Mastodon at @eabolden@techhub.social, on his blog, Trending At Work, and as co-host on The Vision ProFiles podcast.

Jeff Gamet is a technology blogger, podcaster, author, and public speaker. Previously, he was The Mac Observer's Managing Editor, and the TextExpander Evangelist for Smile. He has presented at Macworld Expo, RSA Conference, several WordCamp events, along with many other conferences. You can find him on several podcasts such as The Mac Show, The Big Show, MacVoices, Mac OS Ken, This Week in iOS, and more. Jeff is easy to find on social media as @jgamet on Twitter and Instagram, jeffgamet on LinkedIn., @jgamet@mastodon.social on Mastodon, and on his YouTube Channel at YouTube.com/jgamet.

David Ginsburg is the host of the weekly podcast In Touch With iOS where he discusses all things iOS, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, and related technologies. He is an IT professional supporting Mac, iOS and Windows users. Visit his YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/daveg65 and find and follow him on Twitter @daveg65 and on Mastodon at @daveg65@mastodon.cloud.

Dr. Marty Jencius has been an Associate Professor of Counse