December 2017 Android Distribution Numbers Show Steady Growth for Nougat and Oreo

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We’re now fast approaching 2018, and after almost halfway through December, Google has decided to update the Android distribution numbers once again, this time for the 7-day period ending on December 11th, 2017. The Android distribution statistics are of great help for developers who are looking to see whether it’s worth the effort to support newer APIs and features on their applications at a given time. We got some expected surprises last month, and this one is no different: the newest Android distribution numbers show that Nougat and Oreo, the newest versions of the Android operating system, are both trending upwards, while everything else is going down.

As always, you should keep in mind that these numbers are not totally accurate: they’re collected over a 7-day period from devices visiting the Google Play Store during that time. If your device is turned off during that period, or if it doesn’t have Google Play Services, then it will not be counted in this statistic. However, it should serve as a good measurement for developers, since it’s guaranteed that a big majority of those devices are being actively used.

As we’ve stated above, the big news is that both Nougat (Android 7.0, Android 7.1) and Oreo (Android 8.0 only, as Android 8.1 is still not counted) keep growing steadily. Nougat is running on 23.3% of devices—almost a quarter of all Android devices active globally—up from 20.6% last month, while Oreo modestly grows to 0.5% up from 0.3%. A big milestone to take away from here, though, is that Oreo is now running on approximately 10 million devices globally.

The opposite trend can be seen in all other Android versions, however. Marshmallow goes down to 29.7%, Lollipop goes down to 26.3%, and KitKat drops to 13.4%. Older Android versions have also tanked, as Jelly Bean dips to 5.9% and Gingerbread goes under Oreo to 0.4%. If previous trends tell us anything, Nougat will continue to grow for some time before it starts sinking, while Oreo usage should increase dramatically when 2018 flagships start coming out.