Android 4.4 KitKat is finally starting to gain ground on the earlier versions of the operating system thanks to several new phone models and a push by some manufacturers to update phones. Yet KitKat still lags far behind Jelly Bean in overall popularity.
Google today released an update on where its various food-flavor named operating systems stand. The three versions of Jelly Bean, or Android 4.1x, 4.2x and 4.3, are still the most in use with 61.4 percent of the devices running the versions.
Meanwhile Kitkat is being used in 5.3 percent of the devices, about two times the number reported by Google in February. The current survey was conducted in the seven days leading up to and including April 1.
Google did not give any reason for KitKat's jump in popularity, but most of the major phone makers have rolled out upgrades for their older models that will support this OS. In addition, new phones shipping with KitKat are likely to quickly push usage levels up in the coming months.
The still tasty Gingerbread remains in common use with versions 2.3.3 through 2.3.7 being found in 17.8 percent of the devices. This is down a bit from the 19 percent posted a month ago.
However, despite the fall-off Gingerbread remains higher than the newer Ice Cream Sandwich, 4.0.3 and 4.0.4, which is being used only 14.3 percent of the time, Google said.
Version 2.2, or Froyo, is still around in 1.1 percent of the devices and Google noted that even earlier versions of Android can still be found in less than 1 percent of the devices still in use.
The version with the least number of users is 3.2 or Honeycomb, with just 0.1 percent.
The large number of Android variations in market is a vexing problem for Google, and not likely one it can solve. Unlike Apple, which directly handles all updates and new releases related to its iPhone, Google has to deal with the carriers and manufacturers. In many cases none of these parties has any interest in pushing out a newer OS version, if for no other reason than to give consumers a push to go out and buy or upgrade their phone.
