The monthly stats from Google for Android version distribution are out and as a result of various OEMs finally rolling out Android 4.4 KitKat to their devices several months after it first showed up, KitKat is now running on at least 2.5% of all devices that accessed the Google Play Store during the 7 day period ending yesterday.
Jelly Bean accounts for 62% of all Android devices while Ice Cream Sandwich, Gingerbread and Froyo account for 15.2%, 19% and 1.2% respectively. Honeycomb still stays intact at just 0.1%. Its been at that figure for quite a number of months now and I’m wondering which subset of tablet owners is this persistent with their Play Store usage. I can’t remember any large airline ordering a large number of HTC Flyers or Galaxy Tabs (P1000) for its crew and thanks to specialized apps, sticking with the dated version till the IT guys recommend an upgrade. Anyway those guys, whoever they are, are legendary.
| Android Version | Codename/Dessert Name | Distribution |
| 2.2 | Froyo | 1.2% |
| 2.3 | Gingerbread | 19.0% |
| 3.x | Honeycomb | 0.1% |
| 4.0 | Ice Cream Sandwich | 15.2% |
| 4.1 | Jelly Bean | 35.3% |
| 4.2 | “ | 17.1% |
| 4.3 | “ | 9.6% |
| 4.4 | KitKat | 2.5% |
In all, Android 4.x now accounts for nearly 80% of all Android devices with the most interesting stat being KitKat’s numbers. Samsung has rolled out Android 4.4 to its Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3 devices with its wide range of supported tablets in line to get the same update before May and the popular Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II in line to get the update in the coming month. KitKat is yet to be available via an OTA update in various markets for the Galaxy S4 and Note 3 and those nosy carriers are still evaluating the update so the 2.5% should be getting a boost soon. HTC has been seeding KitKat to its flagship One for the last one month but due to not so many Ones being sold last year, it will hardly make a difference. LG started seeding KitKat to all G2 users today after three months of the update being available in its native South Korea. There are news that last year’s flagship the G Pro will also be getting KitKat so good times lie ahead.
The most disturbing is that almost a third of Android devices are stuck on dated 2011 firmware. Probably these are the devices in use as alarm clocks or exclusively for tethering or as music players. There’s little that can be done about these devices but that ugly fragmentation will be with us for a while.
