<p>With all of the rumors, screenshots and testimonials from people that have seen one of the various beta releases of iOS 7, we know that it is going to be a big change. But relying on the comments of initial developer reactions to iOS 7 and the fact that Apple is reportedly pulling support resource from the Mac and OS X support teams to help out in the coming weeks, I think this is going to be the most significant iOS update Apple has ever released, especially after looking at the changes in app counts, App Store submissions and adoption rates over the last few months.</p><p>Looking at the data from the iTunes Store being collected at 148app.biz over the last few years, one may think that iOS 6 development activity has dropped off the face of the earth. Following the announcement of iOS 6 at WWDC in 2012, the number of apps in the App Store continued to increase at a steady rate. This year however, when developers returned from WWDC in 2013, the growth in total number of apps in the App Store seemed to taper off.</p><p>For the two-year period leading up to WWDC in June 2013, the monthly growth rate of all apps in the app store held steady at an average of 4 percent each month. Since iOS 7 was announced, that growth rate has slowed to less than 1 percent per month in August. One plausible reason would be that new apps are targeting iOS 7 rather than releasing a new app on iOS 6 then having to update to iOS 7 shortly following the release.</p><p>While holding off until iOS 7s release seems to make sense, developers did not react the same way in 2012 with the announcement of iOS 6. The number of submissions to the App Store also being tracked by 148apps.biz may help understand the situation a little better. The average number of submissions for the twelve-month period starting in June 2012 and ending in May of 2013 was 28,404. Starting in June 2013 that number fell significantly, reaching just 7,322 submissions in August 2013. The same drop-off in app submissions to the App Store did not occur following the announcement of iOS 6 in 2012.</p><p><a href="http://gigaom.com/2013/09/08/apples-ios-7-release-likely-to-be-the-most-impactful-ios-update-yet/">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://www.intomobile.com/2013/09/08/paypal-revamps-its-ios-and-android-apps/">PayPal revamps its iOS and Android apps</a> (IntoMobile)</p><p><a href="http://www.mobiletor.com/2013/09/08/paypal-ios-android-update-turns-virtual-wallet/">PayPal iOS and Android update turns it into your virtual wallet</a> (Mobiletor.com)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dvoOh0NBTPPTzdMZxGfriFfo4567M&ned=us">3 additional articles.</a></p>