Newsletter
As every month kicks off, Google release their latest distribution figures on Android. Which versions are out there, and how much of the device population is running those said versions of the OS. This time around, Google is a little late with the numbers but, we assume they’re a little busy munching on KitKats these days. Needless to say, this latest batch of Android statistics tell us what we already know; Jelly Bean is gaining and older versions of Android are finally tailing off.
As we can see from the chart above, Android 2.2 has fallen to just 2.4%. Meanwhile, Jelly Bean – of the 4.1 and 4.2 varieties – has risen to 45.1% of the device population out there. Of course, even though these stats are coming from the horse’s mouth, they’re not concrete. Recorded over a 7-day period, these stats rely on the new version of the Play Store to record the version numbers of Android. That version of the Play Store only supports versions 2.2 Froyo and above. So, how can Google say that Donut and Eclair are all but distant memories? Here’s their statement published along with the new figures:
Note: Because this data is gathered from the new Google Play Store app, which supports Android 2.2 and above, devices running older versions are not included. However, in August, 2013, versions older than Android 2.2 accounted for about 1% of devices that checked in to Google servers (not those that actually visited Google Play Store).
So there you have it, versions older than Android 2.2 are all but gone, which is essentially Donut and Eclair – who would be running Android 1.0 these days?! Sure, there’s probably more users out there running a version below Froyo but, it’s very good to see that older versions of Android are finally tailing off and Jelly Bean can rise up. Gingerbread is still hanging in there with 30.7% of the pie but, that should change dramatically in the next 6 – 8 months, or at least we’d hope so.
With Android 4.4 coming up, we’ll soon be seeing the same old headlines with the “F” word in them. However, as Google has now shifted a number of things to the Play Store Services app, those headlines shouldn’t be as frequent as they have been in the past and hopefully, hopefully OEMs will be smart enough to update devices to KitKat quicker than it took them to upgrade them to Ice Cream Sandwich.
Now, what version of Android are you running?