Google today updated its Platform Versions webpage for Android, and it looks like Android 4.x finally has 25 percent of the droid’s pie. More specifically, 23.7 percent of Android users are now on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and 1.8 percent of Android users are now on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), according to Google’s own data.
Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there. The top dog is still Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) with 55.8 percent share. Furthermore, third place (after ICS in second) is still held by Android 2.2 (Froyo) with 12.9 percent share.
The progress could be, and arguably needs to be, much greater than what we’re currently seeing. Last month, we reported ICS was at 21 percent and Jelly Bean was at 1.2 percent. In other words, the increases have been minute: just 2.7 percent for ICS and 0.6 percent for Jelly Bean.
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The latest version of Android was announced in June 2012. As I’ve said before, we’re seeing over and over that Jelly Bean won’t be the one to fix Android’s fragmentation problem.
The adoption of new Android versions continues to be very slow because updates are being rolled out for current devices at a snail’s pace. We can expect Jelly Bean to increase share more and more rapidly, especially as new devices ship from Google and its partners, but it’s going to be a very long time before it passes Froyo and ICS, let alone takes the number one spot from Gingerbread.
Maybe the next version of Android (Key Lime Pie), will finally include something that will help users get the latest and greatest from Google without having to rely on an update from carriers and/or manufacturers. Then again, it’s entirely possible that Google is simply focusing on more pressing problems.
See also: This script lets you root any Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or Android 4.1 Jelly Bean device and Google’s Schmidt: 1.3M Android activations a day with 70k of those tablets, 480M devices total
Image credit: Bruno De Lorenzo
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