The Android team updated their OS distribution numbers for the beginning of May this afternoon, showing what appears to be a slight jump for Jelly Bean at 28.4%, which is up from the 25% it topped off at in the beginning of April. We’re seeing a decline in Ice Cream Sandwich’s piece of the pie, which is likely due to devices running Android 4.0+ jumping to Android 4.1+ over the last month. We have seen a number of Jelly Bean updates, after all.

Gingerbread dropped to 38.5%, Honeycomb is barely alive at 0.1%, Froyo dipped to 3.6%, and the rest of the numbers didn’t move for Eclair and Donut.

You can see April’s numbers here, if you’d like to compare. Keep in mind that this numbers are now built using data collected from each device when the user visits the Google Play Store

Via:  Android Developers

Android Distribution Numbers Updated for May – Jelly Bean Jumps Slightly to 28.4% of Devices is a post from: Droid Life

Hey, our least favorite time of the month – Android distribution numbers update! Over a 14-day period that ended on March 4, the Android team has come to the conclusion that 16.5% of Android users are now running Jelly Bean (Android 4.1+). The rest of the numbers look like this – Ice Cream Sandwich (28.6%), Honeycomb (1.2%), Gingerbread (44.2%), Froyo (7.6%), Eclair (1.9%), and Donut (0.2%). 

Compared to last month, that’s a 2.9% increase for the newest version of Android. We’re also finally starting to see Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich shares take a bit of a hit after what seems like years. That means a couple of things – people are dropping Gingerbread devices and upgrading to new ones with newer versions of Android and that manufacturers are finally starting to update their phones.

And cue the Apple blogs with ridiculous titles about fragmentation.

Update:  Google has tweaked a couple of the numbers. Froyo now sits at 7.5%, with Gingerbread 10 at 43.9%.

Via:  Android Developers

Android Distribution Numbers Updated for March, Jelly Bean Slowly Rises as the Rest Fall (Updated) is a post from: Droid Life

Within the hour, Google released new Android distribution numbers for the month of February. The numbers, as usual, aren’t anything to have your IRC troll group run to reddit with, but they do offer up a look at whether or not any Android OEMs have updated phones over the last month. As expected, there have been, so the numbers are changing in the slightest of ways.

Jelly Bean is up to 13.6% (from 10.2%), Ice Cream Sandwich actually dropped to 29.0% (from 29.1%), Honeycomb dropped to 1.3% (from 1.5%), and Gingerbread still leads all but is down to 45.6% (from 46.6%).

Neat, right? If you say so.

Via:  Android Developers

Android Distribution Numbers Updated for February – Jelly Bean Slithers Along, the Rest Drop is a post from: Droid Life

10%! Ten percent! Diez por ciento! (I think that’s the Spanish version) Jelly Bean, in the newest Android distribution numbers has hit the double digit mark. I don’t know why I’m acting like I’m excited about that fact, but it certainly seems like some sort of a milestone, doesn’t it? Also of note, we have Gingerbread dropping below the 50% mark for the first time in well over a year and Ice Cream Sandwich creeping up towards the 30% mark.

That puts almost 40% of Android users on at least the top two versions of Android. Not bad? Not that good either. An ongoing battle.

Via:  Android Developers

Android Distribution Numbers Update for January – Jelly Bean Tops 10%, Gingerbread Takes a Hit is a post from: Droid Life

Lots of folks are starting to update to Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean, so we think it’s a good time to find out what version of Android you are all currently running. If you want to know how to check your version of Android, open up your Settings menu. Go to “About Phone” and then check your “Android version.”

According to Google’s latest distribution numbers, Gingerbread is on a whopping 50%+ of Android devices, so let’s see how their numbers stack up against ours.

Thursday Poll: What Version of Android is Your Phone Running? is a post from: Droid Life

Until Gingerbread falls below 50% on the Android distribution charts, I’m going to continue to use the same post title for these stories over and over again. When did we get Android 2.3? Two years ago? Yep, two years ago, and it’s still dominating the Android platform. While Ice Cream Sandwich has slowly climbed to 27.5% after a year, and Jelly Bean to 6.7% after 6 months, it’s still a mobile OS that will be prone to criticism over its fractured update system. We still love every ounce of it, but that’s the reality of the situation.

But anyway, here are the new numbers for December 2012!

Via:  Android Developers

Android Distribution Numbers Updated for December – Same Gingerbread Story, Just Another Month is a post from: Droid Life

As expected, since it’s the first week of the month, the Android distribution numbers have been updated. Also as expected, they look very similar to last month’s numbers, which show Gingerbread (Android 2.3) continuing to dominate and Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) slowly on the rise. Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) on the other hand, jumped a whopping 0.6%. This is life on Android, folks. 

If you want the most current version of Android, you buy a GSM Nexus phone. If you don’t want to leave Verizon for said GSM device, then you are forever going to be stuck in the 6-8 month long update cycle. Since Android OEMs do not control both hardware and software like Apple, it’s always going to be a struggle. Google creates the base of the software, OEMs tweak it to their liking, and then carriers sign off on it before letting it reach your device. It’s an impossible battle to win in a timely manner, until some miracle update process is discovered.

Via:  Android

Android Distribution Charts Updated – Same Gingerbread Story, Just Another Month is a post from: Droid Life

YouTube lovers, Google pushed out an update today that brings some little things to the already awesome application for Android. For Froyo (who’s still on Froyo?) and Gingerbread users, you can now experience the new UI which ICS and Jelly Bean users have been digging for a bit now. On top of that, you can also add videos to your YouTube TV queue and there are more channels to pick from in the Channel Store. 

Also, I have noticed there is a new “Recommended by YouTube” video at the top of my subscription list on the homepage. I do not care for this, but whatever. I’m guessing it’s YouTube’s way of trying to push their partners.

What’s in this version:

* New UI and Preloading now available on Froyo and Gingerbread devices
* New Watch experience
* Add videos to your YouTube TV queue
* More channels to pick from on the Channel Store

Play Link

Cheers Elwin!

YouTube for Android Updated, New UI Arrives for Froyo and Gingerbread Users is a post from: Droid Life

It’s the first week of the month, and that means that new Android distribution numbers are released. Hooray! Woohoo! <insert catchy Apple blog title about how many months it has been and ICS is only at 20%>.

In all semi-seriousness, we did see a jump of 5% for Ice Cream Sandwich from 15.8% to 20.8%, thanks to devices receiving updates across a number of carriers. Jelly Bean also jumped, though slightly to 1.2% (from 0.8%). Gingerbread, as you can imagine, started to decrease as phones made the jump from Android 2.3 to 4.0. And yeah, that’s pretty much that.

Via:  Android

Android Distribution Numbers Updated for September, Like Watching a Race Between Turtles is a post from: Droid Life

It’s the first week of the month, and what does that mean? Android OS distribution numbers are released for all of the “fragmentation” arguers to have a field day with! This month we get to see the debut of Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) on the chart at 0.8%, something that I’m sure Apple will use in a big bold slide during their iPhone 5 announcement. Then again, their adoption rate is always flawed since they update their devices and hack out all of the newly announced features that apparently can’t run on older hardware, but I digress.

So what do we have here? Ice Cream Sandwich is up to 15.9%, a solid 5% jump in a month’s time. You can probably attribute the increase to devices like the DROID RAZR and XOOM receiving the update over the last month. Now that the Rezound, EVO 3D, and others are in the process of receiving it as well, that number will only jump even higher over the next few weeks. Numbers for Froyo and Gingerbread are all decreasing.

There you have it, the August 2012 Android OS distribution numbers. Which percentage are you included in?

Via:  Android

Android OS Distribution Numbers Updated – Jelly Bean Debuts, Ice Cream Sandwich Starts to Take Over is a post from: Droid Life

When Droid Life first started, we began with the Motorola “OG” DROID. It came running Google’s Android 2.1 “Eclair” operating system. That was fine, but what had thousands of people rabid was the talk of an update to Android 2.2 “Froyo.” It had live wallpapers, Adobe’s Flash support, and also introduced the development community to the JIT compiler which allowed for better performance, richer graphics, and higher battery life.

Next in line was Android 2.3 “Gingerbread.” With a complete Android UI overhaul, it turned Android into a dark and sexier OS that also brought various improvements and features to devices. Highlights of Gingerbread was support for NFC chips, a much improved and smarter keyboard, and additional power management upgrades that would help our devices last longer. Gingerbread is currently the most used Android operating version in the world. 

Since Honeycomb is seen merely as a transitional period for Android, we’ll jump right into 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich.” What ICS has done is merge the tablet OS and UI (Honeycomb) and phone OS, bringing them into one single operating system. One that would look great on larger 10.1″ displays as well as the more compact 4.0″ devices. ICS also brought another, more elegant user interface update. There was the new Roboto font that everyone fell in love with, multi-tasking was made simpler and more accessible, improved voice input, Android Beam, and the list goes on. If anything, ICS does have the most extensive changelog of any Android release to date.

Lastly, we have Android 4.1 “Jelly Bean.” The easiest way to describe Jelly Bean is to say it’s Ice Cream Sandwich on steroids. Google introduced “Project Butter,” which improved system performance and brought the interface speeds up to 60FPS throughout. Other popular features are the new expandable notifications, Google Now, improved Voice Search, and customization through re-sizable widgets.

Taking all of this into account, which do you think has been the most important step for Android as a whole? Which version brought Android to its highest peak so far? Voice your opinions down below and feel free to shout out which version has been your overall favorite in this long journey.

Thursday Poll: Which Android Update Has Been Most Important to the OS? is a post from: Droid Life

Each month, the Android team updates their OS distribution charts to show the percentages of users running specific versions. In the most recent, we saw Ice Cream Sandwich jump up to over 10% for the first time, but the clear leader in the clubhouse remains Gingerbread after many months. Jelly Bean has yet to make an appearance on the chart which makes sense, since it has not officially been released yet. The August numbers will likely include it.

Until then, we thought we would ask our community, so that we can see what our numbers look like. I get this feeling that the majority is not going to be Gingerbread and will likely be a mix of ICS and Jelly Bean.

Thursday Poll: What Version of Android is Your Phone Currently Running? is a post from: Droid Life

The Android team updated the distribution chart for July and Ice Cream Sandwich numbers look to be growing at a steady rate. Back on May 1, we had ICS on only a low 4.9% of devices, but those numbers have more than doubled, which I’m sure many DROID RAZR and MAXX owners are quite happy with. Gingerbread still leads the pack with an enormous 63.6%, followed next by our beloved Froyo at 17.3%.

No mention of Jelly Bean yet on these charts, but that makes sense seeing as how it technically isn’t available yet. We will start to see it grow very slowly by the end of the month once they release it to the AOSP. Reminds me that we are fortunate to have such an awesome community of developers who are already pumping out JB ROM’s for multiple devices.

Via:  Android

Android Distribution Charts Updated – 10.9% of Devices on ICS is a post from: Droid Life

(Audio test on Samsung Galaxy Slc without Beats Audio)

(Audio test after installing Beats Audio, more red is better)

The two pictures are proof that Beats Audio actually does have a measurable difference on the sound that your device will output after installing it. The fact that any Gingerbread ROM can have this installed now makes it very exciting. Hit the source link below for the flashable zip. Anyone going to install this?

Via: XDA

XDA Member Ports Beats Audio To Any Gingerbread ROM Via Flashable Zip File is a post from: Droid Life

Back in January, Android 4.0 made up for all of 0.6% of the world Android market share. As of February 2, it has jumped up to a full 1% as a handful of tablets received updates from Honeycomb. Gingerbread as expected, remained king, growing another few percentage points thanks to updates on a number of phones.

Overall though, the pie looks almost identical to that of the previous month. While manufacturers work hard on updating their phones to ICS in the coming months, it likely won’t change much for a while.

Via:  Android Developers

February’s Android Distribution Chart is Out – Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich Shares Grow Slightly is a post from: Droid Life