Google"s monthly usage statistics for Android are in and for the first time, 6.0 Marshmallow is the only version to show growth. The monthly report shows what percentage of Android devices are using which version, screen sizes and pixel densities, and OpenGL versions.
The data was collected during a seven day period that ended on May 2. It is gathered from the Google Play Store app, so any device that does not include the app is not accounted for, including versions older than Android 2.2 Froyo.
Two months ago, we reported that while Marshmallow had doubled to 2.3%, Lollipop was still the big winner for the month. Last month, Marshmallow was the big winner, doubling once again, and while Lollipop showed an overall loss, version 5.1 still showed a 0.2% gain.
| Version | Codename | API | Last month | This month | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.2 | Froyo | 8 | 0.1% | 0.1% | - |
| 2.3.3 - 2.3.7 | Gingerbread | 10 | 2.6% | 2.2% | -0.4% |
| 4.0.3 - 4.0.4 | Ice Cream Sandwich | 15 | 2.2% | 2.0% | -0.2% |
| 4.1.x | Jelly Bean | 16 | 7.8% | 7.2% | -0.6% |
| 4.2.x | 17 | 10.5% | 10.0% | -0.5% | |
| 4.3 | 18 | 3.0% | 2.9% | -0.1% | |
| 4.4 | KitKat | 19 | 33.4% | 32.5% | -0.9% |
| 5.0 | Lollipop | 21 | 16.4% | 16.2% | -0.2% |
| 5.1 | 22 | 19.4% | 19.4% | - | |
| 6.0 | Marshmallow | 23 | 4.6% | 7.5% | 2.9% |
These statistics are significantly different from last months. This month, we saw a 0.4% drop in Gingerbread usage, while last month saw no change at all. Ice Cream Sandwich"s 0.2% and Jelly Bean"s 1.2% overall decline is similar to last month"s 0.1% and 1.1%, respectively. KitKat saw the same 0.9% decline as it did previously.
While this is the first time that 6.0 was the only version to show a gain, Lollipop"s 0.2% drop is less than last month"s 0.3% decline, meaning that 5.0"s 0.2% loss is less than last month"s 0.5% drop.
As the newest stable version of Android, it"s clear that Marshmallow will continue to grow; however, it will be interesting to see if it can continue to stifle the growth of Android 5.1 Lollipop.