iPhone owners hit 87% loyalty rate this year, Android-to-iPhone switching drops to 12%

[Daniel Sims]

Connecting the dots: Apple and Google have long urged smartphone users to defect from their rival's platform, going so far as to publish apps on each other's storefronts to smooth the process. Yet a recent survey suggests there is little movement between users of the two mobile operating systems.

According to the latest survey by analysts at Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), the share of iPhone owners who upgraded from another iPhone, as opposed to those switching over from Android, rose this year. The figures suggest Apple users are at least satisfied enough to stick with iOS, while a fair number of Android users are still crossing over to iPhones.

CIRP periodically surveys customers who buy new phones, asking what kind of phone they owned previously. In the quarter ending March 2026, 12% of respondents who bought a new iPhone said they had switched from an Android device, compared to 14% a year earlier and 13% in 2024.

Only 1% upgraded from a feature phone or a smartphone running another operating system this year, down from 2% in each of the previous two years. That leaves the share of iPhone buyers who upgraded from another iPhone at 87%, up from 84% last year and 85% the year before. The figures suggest that most smartphone users have already settled on a preferred platform.

While CIRP does not track how many iPhone users are moving to Android, a similar survey published earlier this year by SellCell found an even higher loyalty rate for Apple in the US. Among more than 5,000 smartphone users, the share planning to stick with the iPhone climbed from 90.5% in 2019 to 96.4% in 2026. Android loyalty, by contrast, sat at 86.4% this year, and Android users were about four times as likely to switch to iOS.

The reasons behind Apple's edge are unclear. The company's recent move to support RCS messaging, which lets Android and iPhone users exchange texts with end-to-end encryption and other advanced features, appears to have had little effect on brand loyalty.

Android's comparatively open platform, which lets users sideload apps, remains one of its most significant advantages over iOS. But Google is preparing to restrict that functionality, a shift that could dull its value proposition for some customers.

Generative AI is another area where the competing smartphone platforms diverge somewhat.

Google has been quicker to weave its Gemini assistant into Android, with features such as auto-scheduling, form auto-completion, dictation, and automatic web browsing. Apple is set to bring comparable capabilities, including visual descriptions, AI web searches, and document drafting, to Siri in iOS 27 this fall.

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iPhone owners hit 87% loyalty rate this year, Android-to-iPhone switching drops to 12%

 

[Vixiy]

Apple has a better reputation for privacy and security and people will accept a walled garden on that premise.

Android is forgetting its entire edge was the open platform. Even if you don't trust Google, you could at least de-google it and run user respecting foss apps from f-droid.

By closing the platform, Android becomes the negatives of both without any of the positives.

 

[Tom Yum]

Apple has a better reputation for privacy and security and people will accept a walled garden on that premise.

Android is forgetting its entire edge was the open platform. Even if you don't trust Google, you could at least de-google it and run user respecting foss apps from f-droid.

By closing the platform, Android becomes the negatives of both without any of the positives.

For a niche few maybe, but for the vast majority of people it is a simple case of people sticking to an interface and workflow that they know and are comfortable with. Personally, I find using an iPhone infuriating, iOS is clunky and restrictive, but that is because I have used Android since the HTC Diamond. For others it is the opposite. I do find it amusing that people buy Apple 'for the privacy', while they surf FB and X all day. Privacy on the internet is an absolute myth, or in Apple's case, purely marketing, not reality.

 

[Vixiy]

For a niche few maybe, but for the vast majority of people it is a simple case of people sticking to an interface and workflow that they know and are comfortable with. Personally, I find using an iPhone infuriating, iOS is clunky and restrictive, but that is because I have used Android since the HTC Diamond. For others it is the opposite. I do find it amusing that people buy Apple 'for the privacy', while they surf FB and X all day. Privacy on the internet is an absolute myth, or in Apple's case, purely marketing, not reality.

I believe Apple lets you block some of the Facebook data collection.

My point is that of the few people switching, 4x as many are leaving android than the other way around, which is probably because people prefer iOS when they're not using open platform features.

While Apple's privacy is marketing, it's marketing that works. Plus google is always the one in hot water over privacy problems while Apple had refused to unlock phones for the FBI and backed down on a proposed feature that raised privacy concerns.

 

[dangh]

I never got into ios, and happily moved back to android. This gives my better options where it counts for me: better camera, better gaming, good retro consoles and pc emulation, easier to run my own program or just git based apps, better control on 3rd party apps and existence of alternate stores. Apple is way too closed for my liking, and way too focused on proprietary solutions like lightning port and similar, creating friction for years for users.

 

[Tantor]

Apple has a better reputation for privacy and security and people will accept a walled garden on that premise.

Android is forgetting its entire edge was the open platform. Even if you don't trust Google, you could at least de-google it and run user respecting foss apps from f-droid.

By closing the platform, Android becomes the negatives of both without any of the positives.

I'm not sure that Apple has a better reputation for privacy. Didn't they announce a tool back in 2024 to scan phones for sex-abuse material?

https://www.pcmag.com/news/apple-su...-detect-child-sexual-abuse-material-in-icloud

Google is not cutting ADB (USB cable) access, so universal-android-debloater (UAD) should still work to de-google Android. It should be possible to sideload apps via ADB. Google also has a more cumbersome process that allows you to side-load apps, if you officially take responsibility.

Not that I'm an Android fan...

 

[Nobodysfool]

"Don't ask questions. Just consume (Apple) products. And then get excited for the next Apple product."

 

[The Talking Tech]

Apple has a better reputation for privacy and security and people will accept a walled garden on that premise.

Android is forgetting its entire edge was the open platform. Even if you don't trust Google, you could at least de-google it and run user respecting foss apps from f-droid.

By closing the platform, Android becomes the negatives of both without any of the positives.

Better privacy?
What privacy?... do you really think we have privacy in 2026, think of anything on your iphone the government doesn't know.

Better security?
I guess if you are grandma, because if you have a fully working brain you should know better than opening a fraudulent email.

Besides for the price of 1 iPhone you can buy 2 great midrange Android phones to have one as a replacement when you eventually get to smash its screen.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

At this point, both ecosystems are heavily engrained in society. Whichever one you have bought into heavily is the one you are likely to stick with.

Better privacy?
What privacy?... do you really think we have privacy in 2026, think of anything on your iphone the government doesn't know.

Better security?
I guess if you are grandma, because if you have a fully working brain you should know better than opening a fraudulent email.

Besides for the price of 1 iPhone you can buy 2 great midrange Android phones to have one as a replacement when you eventually get to smash its screen.

If you buy a mid range iphone, you dont NEED to smash its screen, since it just works.

Especially int he US, the iphone 16e demolished the remaining reasons to buy android, considering the awful opposition at that price range.

I'm not sure that Apple has a better reputation for privacy. Didn't they announce a tool back in 2024 to scan phones for sex-abuse material?

https://www.pcmag.com/news/apple-su...-detect-child-sexual-abuse-material-in-icloud

Google is not cutting ADB (USB cable) access, so universal-android-debloater (UAD) should still work to de-google Android. It should be possible to sideload apps via ADB. Google also has a more cumbersome process that allows you to side-load apps, if you officially take responsibility.

Not that I'm an Android fan...

Keep in mind, sideloading on android without google's permission and doxing yourself to Google is on borrowed time. They are still moving forward with the developer ID program, and anything they dont like will become Verboten on the OS, regardless of source.