The recurring issue of Android fragmentation has once again been highlighted by the latest distribution numbers released recently. It has been 16 years since I began reporting for PhoneArena, and I recall when Android dessert names such as Froyo, Eclair, and KitKat were the talk of the town. Back then, fragmentation was a significant concern, and it remains an ongoing challenge for the operating system today.
The multitude of Android device manufacturers has led to varied update schedules, which means that the latest Android versions are not available on a large number of devices at any given time. Google eventually transitioned to a quarterly release schedule for its distribution tables in 2023, but the most recent figures still reflect the same fragmentation. The latest numbers, published at the beginning of the month, notably do not account for Samsung devices running Android 15.
As of April 1st, Android 15 was present on only 4.5% of phones, including select Pixel handsets and a few models from OnePlus and Nothing. In contrast, 27.4% of devices were running Android 14, released in October 2023. The Android distribution numbers are now issued once or twice a year via Android Studio, based on the operating system versions connecting to the Play Store over the previous week.
The latest distribution statistics indicate the following:
– Android 15.0 (V) – 4.5%
– Android 14.0 (U) – 27.4%
– Android 13.0 (T) – 16.8%
– Android 12.0 (S) – 13.8%
– Android 11.0 (R) – 15.9%
– Android 10.0 (Q) – 10.2%
– Other versions collectively account for the remaining percentages. If Android were to overcome its fragmentation issue, we would see a much higher percentage of devices running the newest version, Android 15. Google is expected to introduce the stable version of Android 16 by June for compatible models, but the persistent fragmentation remains a fundamental challenge for the platform.