Fragmentation? Almost 90% of Android Devices Running 2.1 and Higher!
For those that harp on Android-based on OS version fragmentation, this can’t be good news.
As for the rest of us, Google is showing over time that fragmentation is slowly becoming a thing of the past, or at the very least it’s becoming less and less of a problem – especially for developers. Google has just released the monthly update for Android version distribution, and the charts show a significant jump in devices running Android 2.1 (Eclair) and higher. Here’s a breakdown of the percentages:
- Android 2.1 | 31.4%
- Android 2.2 | 57.6%
- Android 2.3 | 0.8%
This brings the total to approximately 89.8%. What’s even more impressive is the fact that Android 1.5 (Cupcake) and Android 1.6 (Donut) only equal to about one tenth of all Android devices. 6 months ago, they accounted for over 35%. This is truly impressive and it shows that manufacturers along with carriers are seeing the importance of updating their hardware with the next best thing.
The figure belows indicates the total percentage of active devices that are compatible with a given version of Android. Google helps us to understand the way in which the chart works by stating,
“Notice that the platform versions are stacked on top of each other with the oldest active version at the top. For example, if you develop your application for the version that is at the very top of the chart, then your application is compatible with 100% of active devices (and all future versions), because all Android APIs are forward compatible. Or, if you develop your application for a version lower on the chart, then it is currently compatible with the percentage of devices indicated on the y-axis, where the line for that version meets the y-axis on the right.”
Category: Software
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If you are reading this and have a phone still running 1.5 or 1.6, go buy a new phone. Not only will you be helping yourself, but you'll be helping to end fragmentation! Only you can help fight worldwide fragmentation!
ha,ha….another option would be to root that phone and put the latest stable OS for your phone on it….
I am still stuck on 2.1. Xperia X10 is really disappointing and annoying for their so to be said 'customer service'.
I really hope android does something to address this in the future.While the gap may be closing for certain OS versions the problem is not really getting solved.Manufacturers are new dropping android handsets instead of supporting their old handsets and this trend cannot be good for the long term outlook of android.I think their could be several solutions to the issues but at the end of the day that has to come from carrier,manufacturer and Google's side of things and until they change is the consumer who pays for this poor support of handsets.
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There’s a big difference between 2.1 and 2.2… or should I say, a flashing difference? So I don’t think that makes sense to refer to “Running 2.1 and Higher”… I’m still pissed-off waiting for the “Flash ready” promise of Motorola Milestone, 1 year and 3 months by now. Maybe it’s Motorola fault and not Google, but for me is just a fault…