Right on schedule, Android developers have released the distribution numbers for the varying versions of the operating system. Not surprisingly, the numbers indicate a pretty sizeable increase in Jelly Bean, which is now installed on about 25% of all Android devices with 4.1 and 4.2 combined. Just last month, Android 4.1 only held about 16.5% of the whole Android market. It goes without saying, there’s been a pretty significant increase over the course of just a month.
Gingerbread still takes first place at 39.7% of the market, which is certainly disconcerting. Then again, the Android market hit a boom in new devices at that time, and many older devices have been left in the dirt concerning OTA updates. It will be gratifying to see one of the newer versions of Android finally take the lead, but it will probably be a while until that happens.
When combined, Android 4.0 and up (all versions of ICS and Jelly Bean) take up a total of 54.3% of the Android market. So at least together, Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean take up more of the market than Gingerbread.
The rest of the Android market is divided as follows: Froyo (4.0%), Eclair (1.7%), Honeycomb (0.2%) and Donut (0.1%)
According to an announcement that the Android Developers made on Google+, the big jump in stats for Jelly Bean is probably due to their new assessment system. In the past, the numbers have been calculated based on devices that connect to Google’s servers directly. The new method simply involves a check on devices when they visit the Google Play store.
“The new device dashboards are based on the devices of users who visit the Google Play Store (rather than devices that have checked-in to Google servers). As a result, the dashboards more accurately reflect the users most engaged in the Android and Google Play ecosystem–and thus most likely to download and use your apps.”
Quite frankly, the new system is certainly more accurate and should help Android developers out a lot. By polling devices when they access Google Play, the statistics will reflect a more direct example of what devices are being used on a frequent basis.
Still, it’s good to see Jelly Bean making the lofty rise no matter how these numbers are calculated. Well, as long as they are correct anyway.
Via: Android Developers Dashboard