Every month Google publish data about the current user base and what versions of Android is being used. It usually makes for interesting and worrying reading. The most recent figures have turned something interesting up.
|
Version |
Codename |
API |
Distribution |
| 1.6 | Donut | 4 | 0.2% |
| 2.1 | Eclair | 7 | 1.9% |
| 2.2 | Froyo | 8 | 7.6% |
| 2.3 – 2.3.2 | Gingerbread | 9 | 0.2% |
| 2.3.3 – 2.3.7 | 10 | 44% | |
| 3.1 | Honeycomb | 12 | 0.3% |
| 3.2 | 13 | 0.9% | |
| 4.0.3 – 4.0.4 | Ice Cream Sandwich | 15 | 28.6% |
| 4.1 | Jelly Bean | 16 | 14.9% |
| 4.2 | 17 | 1.6% |
These figures are from a two week period of study of Play Store users ending on the 14th of March. They have even made a nice pie chart to show them as well.
The figures show that Gingerbread is running on 44.2% of devices. They also show Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean is now running on 45.1% of devices. So now finally the rule of Gingerbread is sort of over. Although it is a long way off one single Android version having more users.
It is absurd though, that the networks and Google have screwed up the whole update process to such an extent that 44.2% of Android users are running software from late 2010.
The only real option for getting decent updates is to get a Nexus device. Which in itself is a challenge. Google need to either push the Nexus devices more or sort the networks out.
If you want some more statistics on this topic head over to the Android Developers page here.
About James Pearce
I spend most of the day telling people to turn stuff off and back on again. Inbetween doing that I post news and reviews over here.
I am about to embark on a Windows Phone 8 and Windows RT self imposed restriction for a few months. Keep your eyes on the site for updates.
