iOS 8 now on 77 per cent of iDevices

Apple has announced iOS 8 is running on 77 per cent of Apple devices - up by two per cent on figures released at the beginning of March.

However, the adoption of iOS 8 still lags behind adoption of iOS 7, which stood at 80 per cent at this time last year. A fifth of iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches are running iOS 7, while three per cent are running iOS 6 or below.

The reason take-up could be so slow is it was a large update and those using low-storage devices such as the iPhone 5C were unable to install it without deleting their music, video and image files and applications.

However, Apple is hopeful the release of the Apple Watch will boost figures above and beyond iOS 7 adoption because it can only be paired with devices running iOS 8.2 (or higher if iOS 8.3 is officially released before the wearable goes on sale).

Any device which has been updated to iOS 8 will automatically be compatible with the Apple Watch thanks to an automatic firmware boost.

Apple calculates how many people have installed the latest version of its operating system - or purchased devices running on iOS 8 by tracking App Store downloads.

Alternative figures from mobile analytics firm MixPanel show iOS 8 adoption at 80 per cent, with iOS 7 on 90 per cent at this point last year.

Apple's next substantial update, iOS 9, is due to be launched in June and is rumoured to include speed boosts and bug fixes, although as usual, nothing has been formally revealed.