14 DAY TRIAL // The Android 4.4 KitKat operating system is slowly gaining more ground on the Android platform distribution charts, with the latest available info on the matter revealing that it now powers 20.9 percent of devices.
Ever since going official last year, this platform iteration has gained more and more users, and appears set to become the most used OS flavor in the coming months.
On Tuesday, Google published a new report on the device distribution of various Android releases out there, based on data collected during a 7-day period ending on August 12, 2014.
Compared to July, when it was present on only 17.9 percent of devices, KitKat has grown only 3 percent but, considering the fact that the total number of handsets and tablets running under Android is also on the rise, the growth is worth noticing.
Google’s platform distribution chart also shows that Jelly Bean, the OS iterations spanning from Android 4.1 to Android 4.3, is now loaded on only 54.2 percent of devices, after powering 56.5 percent of them last month.
Given that most of the new devices that arrive on the market as powered by the newer Android 4.4 OS iteration, it does not come as a surprise that Jelly Bean is losing ground.
However, considering the rate at which its market share is diminishing, we suspect that it will continue to be the most used platform variant for several months more. In fact, the Android 4.2.x OS version is still growing, being loaded on 19.8 percent of devices now, compared to only 19.1 percent of them last month.
Older OS variants continue to lose ground in front of newcomers. Android 4.0.3 – 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, for example, is now loaded on only 10.6 percent of devices, compared to 11.4 percent last month.
Android 2.3.3 – 2.3.7 Gingerbread is currently powering 13.6 percent of all Android devices, while 2.2 Froyo is present on only 0.7 percent of them.
Google’s report is based on data gathered from the new Google Play Store app, which is compatible only with smartphones running under the Android 2.2 and up devices, which means that older platform releases are not taken into consideration here.
However, the Mountain View-based Internet giant also notes that these OS versions account for an insignificant percent of devices. As of August 2013, they were loaded on less than one percent of them.
Those of you who would like to learn more on the new Android platform distribution report should head over to the official Android Developers website.