Android version distribution history visualization: 2012-2016

A visualization of the Android version distribution history over the last 5 years. The time frame considered in this article covers from January 2012 to December 2016.

Android is the mobile operating system created by Google and initially released in 2008. Now, 8 years later, it’s the most used platform in the mobile landscape, but also the most used operating system on earth, even when including desktops.

I started keeping track of its evolution in 2012 and I’ve been blogging about it every year since then.

I gathered all the data in this article from the Android developer dashboards, which provide monthly statistics on platform versions, screen sizes and OpenGL versions for all the Android devices which access Google Play. Android versions with a market share lower than 0.1% are not considered.

In all the tables in the following sections red numbers mean a version of Android has lost distribution share respect the previous month, whereas green numbers represent a growing distribution share.

Android version distribution in 2012

The following table contains the percentage of market share for all the versions of Android in 2012.

The graph below shows the 2012 data as lines:

The next graph shows the 2012 data as stacked area:

The final graph shows the 2012 data as stacked bar:

Android version distribution in 2013

The following table contains the percentage of market share for all the versions of Android in 2013.

As you might have noticed, the total for the months of March and April exceeded 100%. That might be some kind of glitch in Google data gathering or because something weird happened.

The graph below shows the 2013 data as lines:

The next graph shows the 2013 data as stacked area:

The final graph shows the 2013 data as stacked bar:

Android version distribution in 2014

The following table contains the percentage of market share for all the versions of Android in 2014.

Data for the month of October 2014 was not released by Google.

The graph below shows the 2014 data as lines:

The next graph shows the 2014 data as stacked area:

The final graph shows the 2014 data as stacked bar:

Android version distribution in 2015

The following table contains the percentage of market share for all the versions of Android in 2015.

Data for the month of July 2015 was not released by Google.

The graph below shows the 2015 data as lines:

The next graph shows the 2015 data as stacked area:

The final graph shows the 2015 data as stacked bar:

Android version distribution in 2016

The following table contains the percentage of market share for all the versions of Android in 2016.

Data for the month of October 2016 was not released by Google.

The graph below shows the 2016 data as lines:

The next graph shows the 2016 data as stacked area:

The final graph shows the 2016 data as stacked bar:

The main Android versions in the last 5 years

To have a better understanding of the Android evolution over the past 5 years, I have also created some graphs of the distribution of the current 9 main versions. These are the Android versions with more than 1% of market share which overall cover 99.5% of the current Android market.

The first graph shows the 2012-2016 data as lines:

The second graph shows the 2012-2016 data as stacked area:

The last graph shows the 2012-2016 data as stacked bar:

Android version distribution history 2016 highlights

These are few observations about the evolution of Android over the last 12 months.

Version 2.2 (Froyo) kept 0.1% of the market for the last 11 months, but it’s probably going to disappear within the first quarter of 2017.

kept 0.1% of the market for the last 11 months, but it’s probably going to disappear within the first quarter of 2017. Version 2.3.3 – 2.3.7 (Gingerbread) is slowly declining below the 1% market share, but it’s likely it will survive one more year, mostly because of all the old low-end Android devices still using it.

is slowly declining below the 1% market share, but it’s likely it will survive one more year, mostly because of all the old low-end Android devices still using it. Version 4.0.3 – 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is been sharing the same decline of Gingerbread and will probably keep doing the same over the next year.

is been sharing the same decline of Gingerbread and will probably keep doing the same over the next year. Version 4.1 (Jelly Bean) started the year below the 10% and now it’s below the 5%. My prediction is that it will drop below 1% by the end of next year.

started the year below the 10% and now it’s below the 5%. My prediction is that it will drop below 1% by the end of next year. Version 4.2 (Jelly Bean) lost half of its market share since January and now holds about 6% of the market , but it’s likely that its decline will slow down during next year.

lost half of its market share since January and now holds about 6% of the market , but it’s likely that its decline will slow down during next year. Version 4.3 (Jelly Bean) started the year with only 3.5% of market share and it’s now below the 2%. In the next 12 months it should drop below the 1%.

started the year with only 3.5% of market share and it’s now below the 2%. In the next 12 months it should drop below the 1%. Version 4.4 (KitKat) was the most used version in January with 36% of market share. Despite the constant decline over the past 12 months is still the second most used version keeping a respectable 24% of the market.

was the most used version in January with 36% of market share. Despite the constant decline over the past 12 months is still the second most used version keeping a respectable 24% of the market. Version 5.0 (Lollipop) is being losing market share all year, mostly replaced by the newer version. Now it’s still above the 10% of market share, but this will probably change in few months.

is being losing market share all year, mostly replaced by the newer version. Now it’s still above the 10% of market share, but this will probably change in few months. Version 5.1 (Lollipop) is being gaining market all year, but it’s not being growing as fast as last year. It’s hard to predict if it will keep growing next year consuming all the 5.0 userbase or if that will be took over by newest versions of Android.

is being gaining market all year, but it’s not being growing as fast as last year. It’s hard to predict if it will keep growing next year consuming all the 5.0 userbase or if that will be took over by newest versions of Android. Version 6.0 (Mashmallow) started the year below the 1% of the market and now it’s the most used version with over 26%.

started the year below the 1% of the market and now it’s the most used version with over 26%. Version 7.0 (Nougat) appeared for the fist time in November 2016 and one month later is still below the 0.5% of the market. Definitely a slow start, but things should change next year.

Previous Android version distribution history

If you are interested in older periods of Android history you can check the previous posts of this series:

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this visualization of the Android version distribution history in the last 5 years. If you have any question feel free to leave a comment.

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