Google has just released its Android distribution numbers for February, showing everyone’s old favorite Gingerbread on the decline with Jelly Bean dominating the Android landscape. KitKat saw its numbers increase by .4%, a modest increase given its recent release.
Since Google’s Android OS version data relies on using the Play Store, the numbers do not include any Android device that is not running the Google Play Store. This includes a number of devices, including devices that run Android 2.2 or below.
When today’s number are compared to January’s, we see a decline in devices running Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich, and an increase in devices running Jelly Bean and KitKat. The numbers look a little something like this:
Gingerbread
- January – 21.2%
- February – 20%
Ice Cream Sandwich
- January – 16.8%
- February – 16.1%
Jelly Bean
- January – 59.1%
- February – 60.7%
KitKat
- January – 1.4%
- February – 1.8%
While the numbers haven’t changed too drastically since last month, its nice to see Gingerbread decline in usage a bit. As more and more manufacturers stop using the aging version of Android, one would hope that they would utilize Android 4.4 KitKat for their devices. KitKat is optimized to run on devices with limited specs, which could pave the way for entry-level devices to run the most recent version of Android.
KitKat has begun its rollout to many higher end devices as of late, and will continue to rollout en masse over the net couple of months as carriers and manufacturers approve the update.
via: Android Developers