At the beginning of every month, Google releases that latest Android distribution numbers that show us which versions are used by most people and vice versa. These numbers are very important to developers who need to know which Android variants to target when developing their apps.
The latest numbers from Google show that the number of people using the current Android iteration, Marshmallow, has doubled from 2.3% last month to 4.6% this month. This is very impressive as we are never used to such growth on Android. This rise can be attributed to the entry of new Android devices into the market and also as manufacturers are currently updating their existing devices.
Android Distribution April 2016
The most popular Android version is Lollipop with 35.8% market share. This is a slight drop of 0.3% from where the company was last month. Even though Lollipop is not the most recent version, it is a good thing to see its adoption is still strong. Following Lollipop closely is Android KitKat with a market share of 33.4%, a drop of 0.9% from where it was last month.
Android Jelly Bean is still going strong with a market share of 21.3%. This is also a drop of about 1% from where it was in March. Jelly Bean is followed at a distant by Gingerbread with a market share of 2.6%, Ice Cream Sandwich with a share of 2.2% and Froyo with a market share of 0.1%.
Going forward, expect the adoption of Android Marshmallow to continue rising as more manufacturers update their devices and as new devices come into the market.
Read: Android Lollipop Is Now the Most Popular Version, Marshmallow Is Growing Steadily