Android Jelly Bean (version 4.1 and 4.2), the latest version of Google's mobile operating system, has finally managed to overtake Gingerbread(Android 2.3.x) and Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0).
According to the monthly
distribution data for the Android OS platform, shared by Google for the month of July, the latest version of the operating system, Android Jelly Bean, which comprises of versions 4.1 and 4.2 of the OS, is now present on 37.9 percent of all Android devices, leading the chart. While there's still some fragmentation within the Jelly Bean user base as 32.3 percent users are on Android 4.2, and only 5.6 percent are on Android 4.2, it's worth pointing out that the latter is not a very major update. Compared to last month, Android Jelly Bean has seen an increase of nearly 5 percent, which clearly indicates that handset makers are selling more devices with the latest version of Android and existing users are also probably receiving updates.
Android 4.0.x Ice Cream Sandwich, the previous iteration of the OS, is now present on 23.3 percent of all Android devices, a decline of 2.3 percent. This means that Android Jelly Bean has gained a healthy lead over Ice Cream Sandwich, which is good news for Google and Android developers. The distribution share of Jelly Bean witnessed an increase of 4.6 percent 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 34.1 percent share across all Android devices, a month on month decline of 2.4 percent.
The combined share of Android 2.2 Froyo and 2.1 Eclair is now reaching the 4.5 percent mark, down from 4.7 percent last month.
These numbers bring in some cheer to the developer community as they can now focus on creating and updating apps supporting the latest version of the OS, that brings the most optimised user experience to end users. We hope to see Jelly Bean cross the 50 percent mark soon.