Android Oreo Share of Active Devices Doubles to 12.1 Percent in July; Nougat Still Dominates: Google

While a large number of smartphone users are anticipating the release of Android P, the distribution of Android Oreo has grown more than double in the last two months period - marking the largest gain in the Android family. The latest Android distribution numbers show that compared to May, the Android 8.0 Oreo share rose 5.2 percent to 10 percent, whereas the distribution of Android 8.1 reached 2 percent from 0.5 percent in May. Despite seeing the strongest growth this time, both Oreo versions failed to dominate the Android world as the Nougat version comprising Android 7.0 and 7.1 versions hit the combined share of 30.8 percent. Google notably skipped Android distribution numbers for the month of June.

According to the updated Android distribution chart, Android Oreo's overall share of active Android devices has increased from 5.7 percent in May to 12.1 percent in July. The reason behind the significant growth is certainly the increase in Oreo updates for a large number of devices. Companies such as Asus, HMD Global, Huawei, Samsung, and Xiaomi largely released the fresh Android experience for their smartphones in the recent past. Most manufacturers are also launching phones running Android Oreo.

While the share of Android Oreo grew massively in the two month period, the share of Android 7.0 fell 1.7 percent to 21.2 percent in the month of July. However, Android 7.1, which comes as an upgraded Android Nougat version, grew 1.4 percent to 9.6 percent in the same month. The growth of Android 7.1 and the decent share of Android 7.0 has retained the domination of the Nougat build at 30.8 percent.

After the Oreo and Nougat versions, it's Android Marshmallow that fell 2 percent to 23.5 percent in July. Android Lollipop, which includes Android 5.0 and 5.1, reached 20.4 percent, while KitKat declined from 10.3 percent to 9.1 percent. Android Jelly Bean, on the other hand, declined to 3.6 percent, whereas Android Ice Cream Sandwich fell to 0.3 percent and Gingerbread to 0.2 percent.

Importantly, the Android distribution data has been collected by recording active devices visiting Google Play in a seven-day period ending on July 23. It doesn't specify data for any versions with less than 0.1 percent distribution.