It’s now June, so it’s time for Google to release the latest statistics on version number usage across Android. As usual the statistics now reflect how many devices actually visit Google Play and it’s good to see that Donut devices are still rocking out there, even as possibly just a statistical anomaly.
So, in May there was a continued trend of Gingerbread usage declining, dropping another 2% of market share and is almost down to only being installed on a third of all Android devices. Unfortunately Gingerbread remains the most dominant platform with 36.5% market share, although Jelly Bean is almost there with Android 4.1 and 4.2 totalling 33% of the Android market now.
| Android Version | April | May |
| 1.6 (Donut) | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| 2.1(Eclair) | 1.7% | 1.5% |
| 2.2(Froyo) | 3.7% | 3.2% |
| 2.3-2.3.2(Gingerbread) | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| 2.3.3-2.3.7(Gingerbread) | 38.4% | 36.4% |
| 3.2(HoneyComb) | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| 4.0.3-4.0.4(Ice Cream Sandwich) | 27.5% | 25.6% |
| 4.1(Jelly Bean) | 26.1% | 29.0% |
| 4.2(Jelly Bean) | 2.3% | 4.0% |
Declining usage in Froyo and Eclair most likely show the upgrade cycle is on for users of those handsets and the numbers should continue to decline. The decline in devices running Ice Cream Sandwich is possibly due to upgrades to Jelly Bean being pushed through by OEMs.
The numbers are usually only possibly of interest to developers looking for information on where to target their apps and thankfully the trend demonstrated here is an upswing of devices running Android 4.0+. This should mean we will see more ‘Holo’ style designed apps in the near future. In the meantime, check out the latest ‘Beautiful Android‘ that James did showcasing the latest good looking Holo style apps.
