18% of iOS devices running iOS 7 in first 24 hours

By comparison, 15% of iOS devices were running iOS 6 in its first 24 hours

So. IOS 7. It’s…you know. Flat.

Actually, after spending 24 hours with iOS 7, I’m feeling optimistic about Apple’s future (as Tim Cook heaves a huge sigh of relief and rubs Neosporin on his chewed cuticles). The camera app’s built-in filters are pretty cool and I like the fact that the Photos app actually does something now.

A report from advertising network Chitika reveals that within the first 24 hours of iOS 7’s release, it’s now on 18.2% of iOS devices visiting the sites in Chitika’s network. By comparison, iOS 6’s adoption rate reached 14.8% within its first 24 hours. And as of September 4, adoption of Google’s Jelly Bean, which was released in July 2012, has penetrated only 45% of the Android ecosystem.

When Tim Cook revealed iOS 7 back in June, he pointed out that a full 93% of iOS users were using the latest version of iOS (iOS 6). So it stands to reason that iOS 7 adoption will continue to climb until most, if not all iOS users are up-to-date.

“This level of adoption represents another proverbial feather in the cap of Apple, as it bests the impressive adoption rates of iOS 6 in the same time period last year,” Chitika’s report reads.

Before we go popping champagne bottles for Apple’s win, the high adoption rate doesn’t mean that everyone loves iOS 7. Among my own personal circle of friends, iOS 7 is getting some mixed reviews. Some people love the new design, others hate it. But virtually ALL of my iPhone-owning friends have downloaded iOS 7.

It seems pretty obvious: iOS 7 is the biggest iPhone redesign ever. And considering the fact that the iPhone is Apple’s top selling product, such a redesign is the equivalent of the reinvention of Apple. People aren’t necessarily excited about the new features (sorry to be a Buzzy McBuzzKill); they’re excited to see the teardown and rebuilding of Apple’s brand-defining product.

And as I’ve argued before, iOS 7 could be the make-or-break moment for Apple. IOS 7 marks the first real design project in the post-Steve Jobs era. It could seal Apple’s fate in terms of whether or not it will truly sail forward sans Steve Jobs.

In the year since Steve Jobs’ death, Apple hasn’t so much reinvented itself so much as it’s simply broken all of its own rules. In some ways, it suggests a mad scramble to get back into Wall Street’s good graces. Shortly after Jobs’s death, Apple missed its first quarter in years. Every quarter since has missed estimates, and Apple’s mad rush to break all the rules seems to indicate a panic of sorts.

So now, with iOS 7 being something of an Apple-minus-Daddy-Warbucks watershed moment, it will be telling to see how consumers respond to it.