Personal finance site and mobile app Mint updated its iPhone app today and, among the update details, noted that it is dropping support for iOS 3. That means that all those iPhone 3G models, which reportedly run like dinosaurs on iOS 4 and higher, are left in the dark.
What do the numbers say about this update? Is it a bold move to leave behind iOS 3, a blunder, or is it simply time?
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Google’s Chris Messina tweeted about the move earlier today, calling Mint’s move to drop iOS 3 and lower support “bold”. The app update was a little tamer. While listing the update under a “Latest and Greatest” heading, it says simply “We’re no longer supporting iOS 3 clients. We apologize to all users that may be affected by this, but making this change will make it easier for us to utilize the latest iOS technology.”
So, how big of an affect will dropping iOS 3 and lower have? According to an article earlier this month from Sarah Perez, just under 90% of all iOS devices run iOS 4.0 and higher. That leaves 10% of devices on iOS 3 and a sliver of a percent (0.02%) on iOS 2. Bump CEO David Lieb had offered the numbers in a Quora thread, with Loopt engineer Ian Peters-Campbell confirming similar stats. According to Peters-Campbell, the percentage of iOS 4 devices running Loopt was possibly a little higher.
Another comment in the same thread, from KAYAK chief architect Bill O’Donnell, suggested that his company found up to 96% of devices running iOS 4 or higher.
I have to admit, when I first read Messina’s tweet today, I immediately agreed. When I went poking around for iOS 4 adoption numbers, I started to change my tune. In July, iOS 4.x had just surpassed iOS 3.x, taking 50% of the market, but now it looks like iOS has become the dominant version by far. Mint certainly isn’t the first app to go iOS 4.x+ only (KAYAK has done the same, as mentioned in that Quora thread). It also won’t be the last.
Apple is moving on and so are its developers. From the looks of it, it might be time for you to move on too, you iPhone 3G-owning troglodytes, lest you be left behind in the Mint-less future.
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