If you've been watching the Android space for more than a few months, you probably remember Google's ancient tradition of regularly updating what was known as the software platform's distribution chart. Almost without exception, the search giant used to refresh these stats every 30 days or so, constantly giving the competition reason for mockery and reminding users of the age-old fragmentation problem.
With that in mind, we weren't exactly shocked to see the company silently break with tradition starting sometime in late 2018. But although Google suddenly decided to shift from a regular and almost entirely predictable Android distribution updating schedule to a... sporadic model, the relative market share of every OS version remained public and easily accessible until recently.
As noticed by 9To5Google, that's no longer the case, as the so-called "distribution dashboard" only shows the percentage of active Android devices grouped by "screen sizes and densities" at the time of this writing. That particular information is also pretty old, dating all the way back to May 2019, but the good news is you can actually dig up some current platform version info if you know where to look... and happen to be an Android app developer as well.
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As highlighted on the revised distribution dashboard webpage, the stats can be found in Android Studio's Create New Project wizard, and according to the folks over at 9To5Google, they're not great. In fact, Android 10 apparently accounts for a smaller piece of the pie than the actual Pie flavor of the OS back in May 2019.
Specifically, only 8.2 percent of Android devices in use right now are powered by the latest OS version, compared to Android 9.0's 10.4 percent share almost a year ago. Of course, it's not May 2020 yet, so the comparison is not entirely fair, but at best, Android 10 could match the adoption numbers of its forerunner in the next few weeks. That means Google has essentially made zero progress towards solving the fragmentation issue, so it's really no wonder that this information is now harder to find than ever before.
In all fairness, though, the numbers aren't exactly hidden from the public, with Android Pie in complete control of the chart at 31.3 percent distribution, followed by Oreo, Nougat, Marshmallow, and Lollipop with 21.3, 12.9, 11.2, and 9.2 percent share respectively. That's right, there are still more phones running an almost six year-old OS build than the one released in 2019. Yikes!
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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