When Android 4.4 KitKat showed up for the first time in the monthly Android versions statistics released by Google back in December 2013, we all expected things to move so fast since every other device manufacturer was promising quick updates to the new Android version. As we all know, that was not to be. Even the flagship devices we all expected to get KitKat in no time like the Samsung Galaxy S4 are yet to get it and for the lucky few running 4.4.x ROMs or leaked test builds of KitKat firmware don’t make any difference. That informs the slow progress KitKat is making. From debuting at 1.1% back in December to a paltry 1.4% last month, Google’s latest Android iteration is still stuck in the 1% range with just 1.8% of devices accessing the Play Store in the 7 day period ending yesterday running on KitKat.
Jelly Bean remains stagnant with over 60% of all Android devices running the Android version that was first announced in July 2012 as Android 4.1 and updated incrementally through Android 4.2 and finally to Android 4.3 a year later. Android 4.0.x Ice Cream Sandwich is still at 16% (dropped from 16.9% to 16.1%) making the entire Android 4.x base account for close to 80% (78.6) of all Android devices. That’s a good figure right there… until it dawns on you that the first iteration came in October 2011 and the latest came at the end of October 2013.
Honeycomb remains stubborn at 0.1% while Froyo is not yet out as it still accounts for 1.3% of all Android devices. The good news is that we might see Gingerbread, Android’s most dominant version for the last two years, finally have a user base that accounts for less than 20%.
| Android Version | Codename/Dessert Name | Distribution |
| 2.2 | Froyo | 1.3 |
| 2.3 | Gingerbread | 20.0% |
| 3.x | Honeycomb | 0.1% |
| 4.0 | Ice Cream Sandwich | 16.1% |
| 4.1 | Jelly Bean | 35.5% |
| 4.2 | “ | 16.3% |
| 4.3 | “ | 8.9% |
| 4.4 | KitKat | 1.8% |
Source: Android Developers
