Another month, another look at the Android defragmentation distribution stats from Google, showing the hottest Android versions in the market. As well as those that just flat out refuse to die. For March, we’re seeing some promising results for Android 6.0 Marshmallow, jumping nearly twice its share. And, officially, Android 5.0 and 5.1 Lollipop is the most used Android version of all, displacing the once king KitKat. Almost comically, Froyo remains on the chart, hanging by a thread.

Google’s stats for Android distribution and devices are primarily meant for developer and OEMs to gauge the will of the market, revealing which versions, and their API, to target and which device sizes and resolutions to best support. For the regular observer, however, they also give insight on the spread and state of the varying Android versions in the market.

Android Marshmallow jumped from 1.2% to 2.3%, nearly double from the previous month. A promising trend which will hopefully continue as more OEMs, like Sony and Samsung, rain down the soft, chewy treat on their existing devices. The biggest winner, however, is Lollipop. While the 2% gain it had since the last month might not seem much, it was enough to displace Android 4.4 KitKat from the top spot. Considering all versions except Lollipop and Marshmallow are declining in numbers, there’s is little threat to 5.0 and 5.1. Coincidentally, Android 5.1 actually surpasses its slightly older 5.0 sibling.

Android 2.2 Froyo is, amusingly, still there, sitting at the precarious 0.1% mark. Move but a bit and it will be taken off the charts for good.

All in all, it seems that the journey away from Android fragmentation is proceeding smoothly. With fewer versions to worry about, developers can simply target the latest two or three versions still going strong in the market. However, they still have to mind differences in hardware capabilities, which are just as tricky to get right. And there’s also the probability of Android N later this year skewing the chart eventually.

SOURCE: Google