Recently Google has released the new data of the devices which are running on Android, and it shows that almost a quarter of all Android devices run on the latest version of Android – which is the 4.4 KitKat.
According to the data revealed, the KitKat (API level 19) has now the share of 24.5 percent, which is still the second-highest on the platform, with 4.1x JellyBean having the highest (25.1 percent). If all of the three versions of JellyBean are c
ombined (the API level of them is different though, being from 16 to 18), it has more than half of the share. Froyo has the least share (0.7 percent), which is in decreasing order. The GingerBread is also in declining phase, but it is still significant (11.4 percent). It is a real strange fact that the devices which run on IceCream Sandwich are fewer than the ones which run on GingerBread, it may be because the ICS was stable for relatively less period of time.
This is obviously the good news for the developers, as in the past years, the distribution of Android versions was much uneven. The newest version of Android has been growing at a rate of 3.6 percent month-on-month. The growth in number in which the Android devices run on KitKat has actually been at a steady 3 to 4 percent monthly since May this year, which should be a healthy indicator for the platform and for developers.
If the status continues to change like this, in a few months we will have the Froyo extinct. The GingerBread will still be active for a while because it is in most of the phones which are low-end and update is not possible for them. In September, however, there might not be much change, and we shall see how the release of the new Android version- the Android L puts an impact on the Android devices.
