From NY to LA, the most popular mobile OS is iOS thanks to the iPhone and the iPad, of course. But when we zoom out and talk about mobile OS in a global perspective, Android is king.
Yet, the latest Android version is still severely underused, so why is that?
Some shocking numbers
Are you surprised? | Image by PhoneArena
As you know, Android 17 has been out for quite some time now; it was released in June 2026. But the latest findings show that about 1% of active devices worldwide are on Android 17.
Of course, this result isn't based on a survey conducted on each and every Android user out there. With over 3.8 billion active users, that would be an impossible task to pull off. Instead, these numbers are a "cumulative adoption" from figures through Android Studio, the report states. The latest estimates are based on data from devices that connected to the Google Play Store over a seven-day period.
Still, the Android 17 rollout seems a bit slow, doesn't it?
Have you received your stable Android 17 update yet?
146 Votes
So what's the most popular Android version today?
That's Android 16. Not that hundreds of millions of users are crazy about Android 16, it's just that it's the last step before Android 17 like we discussed above.
Per the statistics, Android 16 is used by just over 25% of active Android devices as of October 2026. I hope the numbers would shift dramatically in November and December, since Android 17 offers a ton of enhancements and goodies for all of us who don't participate in the iPhone game.
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Last December (in 2025, that is), Android 16 was found on 7.5% of devices. I guess next year, Android 17 will have at least a 20% share.
The silver medal
The second place is occupied by Android 14 (over 15% of devices), while Android 15 is third (14.7%) in terms of popularity. So, roughly a third of all active Android devices are either of Android 14 or Android 15 and haven't made it to Android 16.
Not every Android handset is eligible for every major update. Flagships generally receive longer software support, but cheaper phones often get only one or two major Android upgrades before being left behind. This means many phones may never receive Android 15, regardless of whether their owners want the update or not.
Unfortunately, Google doesn't publish how many of those Android 14 devices are technically incapable of receiving Android 15, so we can't get an exact figure.
The Android popularity list also has Android 13 (almost 12%) and Android 11 (10.5%) outrunning Android 12 (9.6%) in terms of popularity.
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Sebastian is one of PhoneArena’s senior opinionators. A veteran news writer with almost 20 years of experience in media and technology, he not only covers all the hot news about Galaxies and iPhones, but often provides hot takes on industry trends. He’s fascinated with camera-focused flagships from the likes of Oppo and Vivo, as well as foldable phones.
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