A quick run through Apple’s Support forums and a look over Twitter suggests iOS 9.3 is a buggy mess. But that’s simply not true, according to a new study.
Apple’s (AAPL) iOS 9.3 is the “most stable” release that the iPhone maker has pushed out “in years,” according to a study from developer-service provider Apteligent. In fact, the mobile app analytics firm found that in the eight days after its launch on March 21, iOS 9.3 crashed even less than many of the most popular Android versions that have been available for years.
“IOS 9.3 stands as Apple’s most stable new release in years,”Apteligent noted in its report. “The average crash rate over the past eight days is 2.2%, by far the most stable iOS version. For the sake of comparison, that’s better than any current Android release, including the most recent Android Marshmallow, which stands at 2.6%.”
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What’s more, while iOS 9.3 bested the crash rate of its predecessor iOS 9.2 on several devices, including the iPad Air 2.
The findings may prove surprising to anyone who has been reading the countless news stories and user complaints about bugs in iOS 9.3. Indeed, people around the globe have panned iOS 9.3, complaining that Apple had plenty of time to test the operating system before its official launch, and it still suffered from issues.
Apple launched iOS 9.3 at its “Let Us Loop You In” event on March 21. Soon after, users complained that when they didn’t know their Apple ID passwords while trying to update to the new iOS version, the operating system would crash and their devices rendered useless. Apple quickly acknowledged the problem and promised a fix, but offered a workaround in the meantime.
For more about iOS 9.3, watch:
More recently, iOS 9.3 users complained that if they clicked links inside the operating system, their apps would freeze or they’d be returned to an app’s homepage. While that issue is actually an iOS 9 problem and not solely relegated to iOS 9.3, Apple’s latest update has taken the fall. The tech giant followed up on Thursday by releasing an update to iOS 9.3, called iOS 9.3.1, to fix the links issue.
All the while, users have used Apple’s Support forums, as well as Twitter (TWTR), to show their displeasure with iOS 9.3.
One Twitter user’s comments illustrate the thoughts of many critics: “In case you missed it, this iOS 9.3 is terrible.” Another person cried, “Shame on Apple.”
Read more: Apple’s Latest iOS Updates May Screw Up Your Apps
But perhaps iOS 9.3 isn’t as terrible as many have believed. The operating system’s bugs are undoubtedly annoying, but if nothing else, it’s stable, according to Apteligent. Somewhere along the way, as some users suffered from its glitches, the operating system’s reliability factor was lost.
Maybe—just maybe—iOS 9.3 complaints were blown out of proportion.
