Google has published the latest Android distribution numbers and there aren’t any surprises. All other Android versions expect Nougat and Oreo continue to lose device share. Android Nougat gained three percent last month, which has taken its device share above Lollipop, but it is still behind Marshmallow.
It took Android Nougat over 16 months to reach just over a quarter of total Android devices (at least the ones that have access to the Play Store). Google still doesn’t seem to have figured out a solution for this sad rate of adoption and Android updates. The alleged solution to this problem – Project Treble – is still only present on a fraction of the Android devices and any real results will only be visible after a couple of years. The Android manufacturers are still busy releasing devices on the 16-months old Nougat operating system and the new version Oreo continues to struggle. Just yesterday, Sony announced the new Xperia L2 budget Android phone and it runs on Android Nougat and will most likely take at least a few months before the Oreo update is released for the phone. By that time, we will talking about Android P.
There are still more Android phones running on Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich than Android Oreo. To remind you, Gingerbread was released back in 2010 and Ice Cream Sandwich arrives in 2011, over six years ago.
I doubt the situation is going to change anytime soon. Hopefully the entry-level phones, which are more often the victim of older Android versions and the lack of software updates, will see some respite with Android Go edition.
Here are the current Android platform distribution numbers
- Gingerbread: 0.4
- Ice Cream Sandwich: 0.5
- Jelly Bean: 5.6
- KitKat: 12.8
- Lollipop: 25.1
- Marshmallow: 28.6
- Nougat: 26.3
- Oreo: 0.7
You can check out the historical data in this infographic: