Why it matters to you
Tracking the popularity of different versions of the Android operating system helps device owners know how their own version stacks up.
Update: Android Nougat 7.0 and 7.1 have increased in distribution by four percent since April and is currently on over nine percent of devices.
The latest distribution numbers are in, and surprisingly, Android 7.0 has jumped more than four percent since April. That is in stark contrast to the meager advances it has made since its release at the end of August.
According to the Android Developer Dashboard, Nougat devices have jumped 4.6 percent from April, now accounting for 9.5 percent of active Android devices together. Marshmallow is still the reigning king with an API level at 31.2 percent — taking the crown from Lollipop trailing close behind at 30.8 percent.
In contrast, Apple’s iOS 10 was released in the middle of September and it’s installed on 86 percent of devices as of June 5th.
Even though 31.2 percent — the share of devices running Marshmallow — sounds like a small number, it accounts for a lot of phones, especially considering there have been well over 1.4 billion Android devices activated since September 2015. It’s an improvement, but the numbers continue to highlight one of Android’s biggest problems: Fragmentation. Google issues monthly security updates and rolls out version updates to all of its supported Pixel, Nexus, and Android One devices, but these are not always released in a timely manner by manufacturers and carriers for other devices.
Keep in mind, this doesn’t account for the millions of Android smartphones in China, as Google only collects data from devices that access the Google Play Store. The Play Store is not available in China.
Version
Code Name
API
Distribution
2.3.3 – 2.3.7
Gingerbread
10
0.8 percent
4.0.3 – 4.0.4
Ice Cream Sandwich
15
0.8percent
4.1.x
Jelly Bean
16
3.1 percent
4.2.x
17
4.4 percent
4.3
18
1.3 percent
4.4
KitKat
19
18.1 percent
5.0
Lollipop
21
8.2 percent
5.1
22
22.6 percent
6.0
Marshmallow
23
31.2 percent
7.0
Nougat
24
8.9 percent
7.1
Nougat
25
0.6 percent
*The data above is from Google. It was collected during a seven-day period ending on June 5, 2017. Any versions with less than 0.1 percent distribution are not shown.
Nougat 7.0 and 7.1 were the only versions to see some gains this month — all other Android versions decreased in percentage, while Marshmallow stayed at 31.2 percent. During the January data collection period, Google added the entry for 7.1 as it saw wide roll out in December 2016. That has fragmented Nougat’s numbers, but now over nine percent of Android devices have Nougat.
Nougat’s numbers will continue to increase as manufacturers and carriers begin to push updates and as more devices are released this year, but it will be a slow and arduous process. Google’s Pixel smartphones are reportedly “very popular” according to Verizon, and if it becomes a household name as Samsung has managed to achieve with its Galaxy lineup, then Google’s dream of having a large user base with the latest version of Android will come true.
The huge number of people using older versions of Android is not a good thing, as software vulnerabilities and bugs may never be fixed. The Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission sent letters to software giants, including Apple and Google, as well as manufacturers and carriers, inquiring about the security process and how they push updates to consumers.
We’ll continue to update this post as Google updates its Android distribution figures.