KitKat isn’t quite the biggest, but it’s getting there. Photo: Google
Android 4.4 KitKat might be old news now that Lollipop has made its consumer debut with the Nexus 9, but it’s still new software for a massive number of Android users. More than a year since the first KitKat release was delivered by Google, the platform continues to grow, now powering more than 30% of Android-powered devices.
Android Distribution Figures. Screenshot: Joshua Levenson/Cult of Android.
Google has just published the latest distribution figures for the Android operating system. The numbers were uploaded to the official Developer Dashboard blog and reveal a consistent growth in the amount of users running KitKat (4.4), whilst older versions of the OS continue on their long path towards extinction.
Google has updated its platform distribution numbers for the 1st week of July, which shows KitKat’s continuous growth and the slow and steady decline of Jelly Bean.
The latest version of Android is now the third most popular distribution of the OS, finally surpassing the three year old Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and is now right behind Android 4.2 and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with a market share of 17.9%.
Google will preview its next Android update at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco this morning, and according to sources familiar with its plans, it’ll be called Android 5.0 “Lollipop.”
KitKat adoption more than doubled over the past month as handset makers continue to rollout Android 4.4 updates to their existing devices. By April 1, the platform was installed on 5.3% of Android smartphones and tablets — more than double the 2.5% share it claimed a month ago.
