KitKat running on almost 25% of Android devices according to distribution numbers for September
We like to think of it as a little “state of Android” snippet and today, Google has updated their official Android Platform Distribution numbers for the month of September. Although it’s not much, KitKat is now running on almost a quarter of all active Android devices, well, the ones that have recently made contact with the Google Play Store in the past week.
What’s interesting is Jelly Bean took a slight dip, dropping from 54.2% last month to 53.8% this month. This is likely due to Android devices finally receiving their KitKat updates, and we’d imagine we’ll start seeing that number drop even further as more older flagships receive KitKat. Still hanging in is Ice Cream Sandwich at 9.6%, Gingerbread at 11.4% and Froyo (yes, someone out there is still actively using an Android 2.2 device) at .7%.
As Android L looms on the horizon, we don’t imagine we’ll see the numbers change dramatically before then. The only time we see a major shift in the numbers is when flagship devices launch with the latest Android version, and all those launched earlier this year (but there’s still a few more on the horizon). While someone could paint these numbers as embarrassing when compared to iOS, it would be like comparing apples to oranges. Android runs on a variety of hardware, ranging from low (rarely sees Android updates) to high-end (usually more up to date). If Apple’s flagship device is the iPhone, then comparing it to something like the Nexus or even flagship devices from HTC or Samsung would be much more fitting.
For those curious to see last months stats, you can check them out here.