Google used to give us monthly updates on the distribution of the different versions of Android, but after its October 2018 update, the news stopped.
According to Google (via Android Police), Android 9 Pie was on 10.4 percent of devices that accessed the Play Store during the 7-day period ending on May 7, 2019. Google hadn’t previously given us any information on Android Pie’s adoption, which makes today’s update even more notable.
When it comes to Android Oreo, version 8.1 was on 15.4 percent of devices this month and version 8.0 was on 12.9 percent of devices, giving it a total of 28.3 percent. That’s up from 21.5 percent back in October. Android Nougat appeared on 19.2 percent of devices this month, down from 28.2 percent in October. Android Marshmallow usage fell as well, dropping from 21.3 percent in October to 16.9 percent in May.
Android Lollipop was on 17.9 percent of devices in October but fell to 14.5 percent in May, while Android KitKat dropped from 7.6 percent usage in October to 6.9 percent in May. Android Jelly Bean adoption actually grew 0.2 percent from October to finish at 3.2 percent in May, and Android Gingerbread usage grew 0.1 percent to finish at 0.3 percent in May.
It’s nice to see Google update the Android distribution dashboard again, giving us an idea of how widely each version of Android is being used. And while 10.4 percent for Android Pie may not sound like much, it’s actually a 150 percent improvement from Android 8.0 Oreo’s adoption at this time last year, so that’s something for Google to be proud of.
