Google's updated its developer website with the latest statistics for Android platform use. Spoiler: Android's still a bit fragmented, with one-fifth of all devices sporting Android 2.2 (Froyo), which is nearly triple the number of devices running Android's latest release, Android 4.0+ (Ice Cream Sandwich).On the plus side (for Google), adoption of the latest version of its mobile OS has grown since April. Google's Developer "Platform Versions" site puts Ice Cream Sandwich use at approximately 4.9 percent of all recorded Android devices when stats were pulled for April of this year. Ice Cream Sandwich adoption is up to 7.1 percent as of June 1 – a modest gain, but a gain nevertheless.
Devices running the Gingerbread version of Android's OS – that's Android versions 2.3 to 2.3.7 – still make up the lion's share of Android's base. And this chunk isn't slowing down: Sixty-five percent of all Android devices rocked Gingerbread as of Google's June figures, up six-tenths of a percent from its April's analysis.
A significant portion of Google's Android base still runs Android 2.2, or Froyo – 19.1 percent, down nearly two percent from Google's April figures. The more impressive figure is that nearly six percent of all recorded android devices sport a version of the OS that's even older: Android 2.1, or Eclair, takes up 5.2 percent of Android's recorded devices as of Google's June 1 analysis. Nearly 1 percent of all Android devices run either Android 1.6 (Donut) or Android 1.5 (Cupcake) – time to throw out the legacy products, people.
Of course, the version numbers of Android's operating system are just one part of the complicated picture that aspiring developers have to deal with when working with Android. The popular infographics from the makers of the OpenSignalMaps application illuminate the Android world to much greater detail.
In their analysis – which pulled in statistics from nearly 4,000 Android devices (there are likely much fewer actual Android devices, however, as a user's custom ROMs can make a device appear to be a "new" piece of hardware when it really isn't) – Gingerbread's still the most-used of the Android versions. That hasn't changed over the past year. However, back in April of 2011, the top two Android versions accounted for 90 percent of all devices on OpenSignalMaps' analysis; that number's now down to 75 percent as of April of this year.
OpenSignalMaps' developers go into the fragmentation issue further, showing off all the different brands that have accessed the app as well as the different screen resolutions that aspiring developers have to keep in mind when designing on the Android platform – a lot more than iOS, for what it's worth.
But does that mean that Android's "fragmentation" is bad for the platform?
"We've collected signal data from 195 countries - the variety of Android devices and manufacturers has been crucial in allowing the OS to reach so many markets," reads OpenSignalMaps' blog post.
"One of the joys of developing for Android is you have no idea who'll end up using your app."
It's a notion echoed by Google's own Andy Rubin, vice president of Engineering, in an April 2011 blog post.
"We don't believe in a 'one size fits all' solution. The Android platform has already spurred the development of hundreds of different types of devices – many of which were not originally contemplated when the platform was first created. What amazes me is that even though the quantity and breadth of Android products being built has grown tremendously, it's clear that quality and consistency continue to be top priorities," Rubin wrote.
