Google releases distribution numbers to developers regularly to update the on the platform position when it comes to Android percentage points. As you may be well aware, this starts from Android 2.2 which is the oldest supported by Google Play Store to the most recent one with consumers, in this case Android 4.4 KitKat. It will be some time before Android L becomes official and starts showing up here.
Google did hold out on one dessert version and that’s Jelly Bean for three versions of the OS, a move seen as one to reduce fragmentation. This explains why Android Jelly Bean is still the giant of share here with 4.1, 4.1 and 4.3. This effectively makes Android Jelly Bean the largest with 56.5% split out to 27.8% for Android 4.1, 19.7% for Android 4.2 and 9% for Android 4.3.
Android 2.2 Froyo still sticks on there but with reduced percentage points, down by 0.1 from the most recent result. Android Gingerbread also went down at 13.5% from 14.9%, Ice cream Sandwich hit almost a percentage point down to 11.4% . The gainer of all these bits it Android 4.4 KitKat which gained 4 percentage points to 17.9%. This is quite expected as more OEMs have moved to increase their update cycle to become competitive in the cut-throat smartphone market.
Google also made Android 4.4 KitKat support low memory smartphones meaning that even entry level smartphones could comfortably run on Android 4.4 Kitkat without the internals complaining. This will be yet another time when the most recent Android version is not the most used as Google rolls out the next which is already in the hands of the OEMS to develop and customize for their next devices.
