Google typically releases its latest Android distribution numbers within the first few days of a new month. It took a bit longer than normal for March, but today those new stats have been unleashed.
During a 7-day period ending on March 7, Google monitored the different Android versions on devices accessing the Play Store. Of those devices, Android 6.0 Marshmallow was on 2.3 percent of hardware, up from 1.2 percent in February. Meanwhile, Android Lollipop (5.0 and 5.1) combined for 36.1 percent, up from 34.1 percent last month.
Moving on to pre-5.0 versions of Android, KitKat (4.4) fell from 35.5 percent in February to 34.3 percent in March, meaning that it’s no longer the most widely used version of Android. Jelly Bean (4.1-4.3) dropped from 23.9 percent to 22.3 percent, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich dropped, too, falling to 2.3 percent. Finally, Android 2.3 Gingerbread dropped from 2.7 percent to 2.6 percent, and Android 2.2 Froyo held steady at 0.1 percent.
These latest numbers reflect what we saw in the Android world over the past month. There were some new phones that launched with Android 5.1, like the Huawei GX8, while others were updated to Android 6.0, like the LG G4 and HTC One M9. The Galaxy S7 and S7 edge also started hitting customers’ hands lately, which helped to give Android 6.0 a boost, and those devices should help Android 6.0 usage grow again in next month’s numbers.
So, which version of Android are you using?