Android 2.2 now on 28% of devices

Google updated their Android Platform Versions page yesterday, which shows how the various versions of Android are distributed across devices. Android 2.2, Froyo, made huge advances this month, going from only 4.5 percent last month, to now running on 28.7 percent of all devices out there. Android 2.1, Eclair, makes up the majority of the pie, running on 41.7 percent of devices. Together, this means that Android 2.x is running on over 70 percent of devices. That's the good news.



The bad news is the number of devices still stuck on 1.5 or 1.6. These include the G1, original MyTouch, Cliq, Cliq XT, Devour, etc. Most of these are likely to never see an official upgrade, despite there being millions of them out in the wild. Over 29 percent of devices out there are still running 1.5 or 1.6, meaning one in four of the Android devices you might encounter are running outdated software. There's always the option of rooting and hacking, but the overwhelming majority of users are unaware or uncomfortable with that option. So they are forced to wait on their carrier/manufacturer to issue updates.

It's great that the newest two versions of Android are now dominating the numbers, but it's kind of shocking how many devices are stuck on old software. Given that my G1 runs so smoothly on 2.2, it's really surprising that the carriers and manufacturers continue to repeat the line that older devices are not compatible. The Devour, for example, has hardware that's better than the G1 in nearly every respect, but Motorola has officially stated that it will never be upgraded past 1.6. To me, that's just unacceptable. But let's focus on the positive, right! Froyo is gaining! :-)

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Ugh, don't even get me started on carriers/manufacturers not updating phones. It's ridiculous. I can't stand it. That's part of the reason the Google Store concept was so appealing, but that died out. So, the rising popularity of Froyo is good news, but only until Gingerbread comes out, and it takes them more than a year to get phones with that version on it....