February’s Android platform distribution numbers are in: Jelly Bean on the rise, KitKat makes a modest climb
It’s the time of the month when the Android Developers dashboard updates us on the current state of Android (current version numbers, that is). Typically, this data is meant for app developers to use when weighing out which Android versions are worth targeting. For the rest of us? Well, we just find it fun to keep track.
Keep in mind these numbers do not account for Chinese knockoffs, or any other Android devices running alternative app stores, only those with Play services and devices that have recently pinged the Google Play Store. For the week ending on February 4th (today), here are the quick stats as compared against the previous month’s.
January 2014 -> February 2014
- Gingerbread: 21.2% -> 20%
- Ice Cream Sandwich: 16.8% -> 16.1%
- Jelly Bean (combined): 59.1% -> 60.7%
- KitKat: 1.4% -> 1.8%
Alright, so not much change on the Android front. Gingerbread is still on the decline (most likely due to hardware failure), with Ice Cream Sandwich also dropping. Given that Jelly Bean is still on the rise, we’re hoping this means a few extra ICS handsets were finally upgraded to Jelly Bean, but there’s no way to be sure. Also, it’s not really fair to lump Jelly Bean together, as any diehard Android fanboy will tell you, there’s a big difference between Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.
KitKat numbers are also trickling on in, and although it’s not much right now, we expect that number will make a big jump once 2014 flagships from HTC and Samsung finally hit the market.