Android Distribution Numbers: No Lollipop Yet

When checking out a new app, you'll typically see a disclaimer that your device must be running a newer Android version, typically 4.0 or better. Unless you have a newer flagship device, you might even wonder if you're running a version that can support the app in question. With Google's newly announced Android figures, you can probably rest assured; about 90% of Android users are on 4.0.3 or newer. The figures also show KitKat has risen in adoption, but one notable missing piece shows Lollipop's weakness.

The latest version of Android is nowhere to be found on this chart. The data was collected over a week-long period ending today, and all versions with more than 0.1% of handsets running Android are displayed.

The good news? All Android iterations before Froyo are gone, and even that version, at 0.5%, is ready to drop off this chart soon (to be fair, these numbers are from device versions visiting the Play Store, and those older versions aren't supported by the latest Play Store update). Honeycomb, the tablet-only precursor to Ice Cream Sandwich, is also gone from these figures.

KitKat rose from 30% or 33%, meaning all other iterations took a hit. The biggest losers for KitKat's gain were Jelly Bean and Ice Cream Sandwich. They dropped roughly 2% and 1%, respectively.

So, where's Lollipop? With less than 0.1% of Android handsets running the latest from Google, we can safely assume that updates aren't being sought after as much as we thought they might be, even with Google's Nexus devices currently in circulation. The Nexus 6 rollout has also been troubled, even by Nexus standards. We're also wondering how well the Nexus 9 is selling, now that Lollipop is missing from this report.

The source code for Lollipop has been available for about a month, so we should see it on this chart come January 1, 2015. Even the more basic non-Nexus handsets, like the Google Play edition of the HTC One, have yet to see Lollipop.

Source: Android Developers Blog