It's not surprising that only .4 percent of Android devices are running Google's latest operating system, Android 7.0 Nougat, while the previous iteration, Android 6.0 Marshmallow, enjoys 26.3 percent. Nougat was officially released late August, and its rollout to eligible smartphones has been somewhat slow.
Android Adoption Rate
The slow adoption rate of Nougat makes Android 6.0 Marshmallow the most commonly used software version on all Android devices today, irrespective of combined versions of Lollipop.
The new distribution numbers were published by Google as the last set of figures for 2016 before it adds Android 7.1 Nougat's API version to the list.
In November, Nougat-run devices was at 0.3 percent. After a month, the figures show a measly increase from 0.3 to 0.4 percent for Android devices running Nougat while Marshmallow enjoyed a jump from 24 percent to 26.3 percent.
The figures were pulled from Android devices that accessed the Google Play Store for a week's period, which ended Dec. 5.
Android Nougat Updates This December
From late November to December, significant Nougat rollouts include one for the LG G5 on multiple U.S. carriers and for the unlocked variant of HTC 10. Samsung is still within the testing period for its own Galaxy S7 and S7 edge Nougat build, and Huawei is gearing up for a Nougat release for a number of its devices come Q1 Next year.
Android By The Numbers
When combined, Android 5.0 and 5.1 Lollipop earn the most number of Android devices at 34 percent. Android KitKat, meanwhile, currently runs on 24 percent of all Android devices, falling 1.2 points compared with the previous distribution numbers. The outdated Jelly Bean still runs on 12.8 percent of Android devices, while Ice Cream Sandwich and Gingerbread still corner 1.2 percent of Android devices each. Finally, Froyo stands almost unheard of at 0.1 percent.
Nougat's distribution numbers should enjoy a healthy uptick eventually once major phone makers start pushing out official Nougat builds.
As a whole, Android still dominates the phone market software-wise, cornering 87.5 percent of all devices released in Q3 2016, with Apple lagging behind at 12 percent. Extrapolating from these numbers, it's clear that the Android platform is still the choice software for many, greatly helped by the fact that it can run on a number of premium, mid-range and budget devices, while iOS 10 remains exclusively for the iPhone.
Is your phone already running Nougat? Why do you think Google's latest OS is slow to push out? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
