Google: Froyo still most popular Android dessert

New figures released by Google show that version 2.2 of its Android mobile operating system is still the most common release in active use. According to the Platform Versions device dashboard on the Android Developer portal, Android 2.2, code-named "Froyo", continues to account for more than half of the total number of devices in use – more than a year after it was first released in June 2010, it is still used by 55.9% of devices accessing the Android Market. Google's Platform numbers are based on the number of Android devices that have accessed the company's Android Market within a two week period ending on 1 August.

Released in December of last year, the latest Android 2.3.x branch known as "Gingerbread" only accounts for 24.3% of devices after being available for nearly eight months. The percentage of devices running version 2.1 (Eclair) continues to fall, dropping from 21.2% just two months ago to 15.2% – devices running the older 1.5 (Cupcake) and 1.6 (Donut) versions now only make up 1.3% and 2.0% respectively.

Distribution of Android versions based on devices accessing the Android Market
Source: Google

Android-based tablets, such as the Motorola Xoom and ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, running version 3.0 to 3.2 (Honeycomb) total just 1.3%. The next version of Android, code-named "Ice Cream Sandwich", is expected to work on both smartphones and tablets without modification, and arrive towards the end of this year.

(crve)