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Android 4.4 KitKat has bitten off almost 25 percent of all Android devices.
Revealing the latest stats for its mobile OS on its Android Developers Dashboard page on Wednesday, Google pegged KitKat’s share at 24.5 percent. That number includes all devices recorded at the Google Play store over the seven-day period that ended September 9.
The latest percentage shows a steady rise for KitKat from 20.9 percent in August, 17.9 percent in July, and 13 percent in June. But the effort to achieve a 25 percent share hasn’t been easy.
Mobile carriers have been working hard to roll out Android 4.4 KitKat, which launched in October 2013. But the Android update process is fraught with roadblocks. A new update requires the initial work from Google, then moves onto testing and customization by the mobile phone makers. Finally, the wireless carriers have to chime in with their own testing and planning before they can dole out the update to their customers.
That complex process is a major reason why the Android world is so fragmented with so many different versions still found on a variety of phones and tablets.
Android Jelly Bean is still at the top of the heap with a collective share of 53.8 percent, down just slightly from 54.2 in August. Splitting up those beans, Android 4.1.x holds the largest share at 25.1 percent, followed by version 4.2.x with 20.7 percent, and then version 4.3 with 8 percent.
In third place, Android 2.3.3 through Android 2.3.7, aka Gingerbread, is still holding its own at 11.4 percent, though that’s down from 13.6 percent last month. That’s an impressive feat for an Android OS version that’s been around for almost five years. But a lot of Android devices may be stuck on Gingerbread simply because they can’t be updated to a newer version as a result of compatibility problems.
Taking fourth place was Android 4.0.3 to 4.0.4, aka Ice Cream Sandwich, with a 9.6 percent share, down from 10.6 in August. And in last place and still not yet off the radar was Android 2.2 Froyo, ekeing out a 0.7 percent share, the same number as last month.
