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Despite massive growth, KitKat still lags behind older Android versions

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 8:48PM EST
Android 4.4 Market Share

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Google has posted its latest Android distribution numbers on its developers site, revealing huge growth for Android 4.4 KitKat, compared to previous months. Even so, KitKat adoption is still lagging behind older operating systems, an ecosystem “feature” Apple highlighted during the WWDC 2014 opening keynote.

Data collected during a 7-day period ending on June 4 revealed that KitKat is now on 13.6% of Android devices, up from 8.5% in early May. That percentage is still smaller than Gingerbread’s, which is at 14.9% (down from 16.2% in the previous period), and just 1.3% more than Ice Cream Sandwich, currently at 12.3% (down from 13.4% the previous month).

Jelly Bean is still the king of the Android ecosystem, with a combined 58.4% share for early June, down from 60.8% a month before. Of the Jelly Bean versions still running on Android smartphones and tablets, the almost two-year old Android 4.1 is on half of them.

One notable change is that Google’s ancient tablet-only Honeycomb Android version has disappeared for good from its monthly reports.

Google this week rolled out a new KitKat update, Android version 4.4.3, which is rolling out to Nexus devices, and should hit other Motorola handsets in the near future. The company is expected to reveal more Android details later this month, during its I/O developers conference.

A graph showing the current distribution numbers for Android follows below.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.