Android Jellybean (versions 4.1.x and 4.2.x) now comprises 40.5 percent of all Android devices - at least the ones that meet Google's criterion - according to the monthly distribution
data for the Android OS platform, shared by Google for the month of August.
It's another thing that there's fragmentation within Jelly Bean, with just 6.5 percent of all devices running Android 4.2.x, while a majority runs Android 4.1.x, an older version of the OS. Of course the latest version, Android 4.3 is nowhere to be seen.
Google had unveiled Android 4.3, a new version of Android, last week. However it's only being seeded to select Nexus devices at this time, and does not feature in the data. Interestingly the new iteration of the OS will also add to fragmentation, as it will take months to reach non-Nexus devices, however, Google has smartly named it Jelly Bean (again!), and will include all devices running Android 4.1.x, 4.2.x and 4.3.x under one head. It would be interesting to see the percentage of users on Android 4.3, when Google releases data for September.
Although the different versions of Jelly Bean sport minor differences in terms of user facing features, they are fresh builds and bring major changes under the hood.
Android 4.0.x Ice Cream Sandwich, the pre-Jelly Bean version of the OS, is now present on 22.5 percent of all Android devices, a decline of 0.8 percentage points compared to last month.
This implies that Android Jelly Bean is about to get a two-fold lead over Ice Cream Sandwich, which is good news for Google and for Android developers. The distribution share of Jelly Bean witnessed an increase of 2.7 percentage points compared to last month's share of the OS.
It's worth pointing out that beginning April the data charts are now based on the data collected from each device when the user visits the Google Play Store to make it more accurate and reflect the percentage of users who are most engaged in the Android and Google Play ecosystem, as per Google. Prior to this, data was collected when the device simply checked-in to Google servers. However, this could exclude some devices that don't come with the Play Store, so the data is not 100 percent accurate.
Android 2.3.x Gingerbread's user base continues to shrink with the OS version recording a 33.1 percent share across all Android devices, a month on month decline of 1 percentage point.
The combined share of Android 2.2 Froyo and 2.1 Eclair is now reaching the 3.7 percent mark, down from 4.5 percentage points last month.