Android 13 was released about eight months ago, but it's only installed on 12% of devices. While it's to be expected, it means that significantly more people have previous versions installed than this one. That’s according to the latest distribution statistics from Google, made available quarterly through the Android Studio development tool.

However, a 12% installation rate isn’t necessarily as bad as it sounds, as the last time the stats were updated was in January this year. Since then, Android 13 installations have more than doubled. Still, around 16% of gadgets have Android 12 installed, and almost 24% have Android 11 as the operating system. By comparison, only around 5% of devices had Android 13 at the beginning of the year.

android-13-install-base
Source: 9to5Google

It’s interesting to note that when Android 12 was first included in Google’s distribution statistics, it entered the chart at a 13.3% adoption rate. That was almost a year after becoming widely available for installation. If the current installation base grows at a steady trajectory, it might overtake its predecessor in popularity.

There is a caveat to the growth, though. Google makes Android available to mobile manufacturers, but it’s up to each one to roll it out on their own devices. For example, that’s why some devices will get Android 14 before other phones. An operating system version and subsequent updates usually undergo a lot of internal testing to ensure compatibility and a consistent user experience, and this testing period tends to take longer when it comes to major version upgrades.

The first Android 14 beta was recently made available for Google Pixel phones and includes several stability improvements and new features. The full release is slated for later this year, probably around August.

As for older Android versions, it's interesting to note that a small contingent of devices still run KitKat at 0.6%, Lollipop at 1.9%, and Marshmallow at 2.5%.


Via: 9to5Google