Android 7.0 Nougat Now Present on 0.3 Percent of All Active Android Devices, Says Google

Almost two months after last updating its Android distribution chart, Google has now revealed the number of devices that are currently running the various versions of its mobile OS. The search giant, in its latest distribution chart, on Monday revealed that only 0.3 percent of all active Android devices are currently running on Android 7.0 Nougat. Google did not reveal the reason it didn't publish its distribution chart in October, though it may be related to the launch of the Google Pixel smartphones.

Even though the adoption rate for Nougat cannot be termed impressive, it should be noted that Android 6.0 Marshmallow also debuted at the distribution chart with same percentage share last November. Now, the number of active devices running Marshmallow has climbed up to 24 percent, a 5.3 percent jump from September, as per Google's latest distribution chart.

The data regarding the distribution of its Android versions is collected by the company on the basis of the devices that check into Google Play via the app, which supports Android 2.2 Froyo and higher devices. This is why the term "active devices" is used while describing the figures, and any version with less than 0.1 percent share is not shown in the chart. The data was collected in a 7-day period ending November 7. It should be noted that Android 7.1 Nougat, which the Google Pixel phones launched with, is still not mentioned in the distribution chart - implying a share of less than 0.1 percent.

Android 5.0 Lollipop continues to be present on most Android smartphones with 34.1 percent of overall share, down from 35 percent in September. Android KitKat follows behind and is down from 27.7 percent in September, now present on 25.2 percent active Android smartphones, as per the data revealed by the company.

As per the latest distribution chart, Android versions Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Jelly Bean are currently running on 1.3 percent, 1.3 percent, and 13.7 percent of overall active Android devices respectively, compared to 1.5 percent, 1.4 percent, and 15.6 percent in September.

Looking at the OpenGL distribution numbers, we see saw OpenGL 2.0 at 43.1 percent (dropping from 44.9 percent in September), and OpenGL 3.0 at 42.2 percent (dropping from 42.3 percent), and OpenGL 3.1 at 14.7 percent.

In comparison, Apple revealed last month that the latest version of its operating system - iOS 10 - is now running on 60 percent of overall active iOS devices. Considering the recent reports about Android's earlier versions still being vulnerable to dated malwares, the platform does face a real task at hand to bring more users to its new platform.