iOS 7 woos 85 percent of all iOS devices

The new number shows healthy growth from the 78 percent recorded at the end of 2013, according to Apple’s latest stats.

iOS 7 Luke Westaway/CNET iOS 7 is now home to 85 percent of all iOS devices.

The stats come directly from Apple itself, which measured its own App Store data during the seven-day period ending Sunday, March 23. The latest number, which applies to iOS 7 and higher, is up from the 78 percent seen at the end of December 2013 and the 74 percent from early December.

As a consequence, iOS 6 now holds just a 12 percent slice of the pie, down from 18 percent at the end of last December. Versions earlier than iOS 6 now account for 3 percent of the action. But those older iOS versions won't disappear completely. iOS 7 does not support iPhones prior to the iPhone 4, iPods before the fifth-generation iPod Touch, or the original iPad.

Released on March 10, iOS 7.1 got off to a promising start based on data from mobile analytics firm Chitika. Looking at all Web traffic in North America generated by iOS devices, Chitika found that version 7.1 snagged a 12 percent share just 45 hours after its release.