According to new data, Android 11 is the most used version of this operating system, followed by Android 10.
According to the latest data from Android Studio, Android 11 is currently known as the most popular version of this operating system. In addition, Android 9 continues to run on many Android devices. On the other hand, Android 13, released about seven months ago, has yet to be well received.
Apple is in charge of producing the iPhone and the iOS operating system, but Google’s Android is used in different brands of phones. For this reason, it takes longer for new versions to be available to all users of the Android ecosystem. According to April 2023 statistics, Android 11 is the most popular version of this operating system, with a share of 23.5%, followed by Android 10 with 18.5%. Android 12 also occupies the third place in this list with a share of 16.5%, and surprisingly, Android 9, released in 2018, is still running on 12.3% of devices equipped with Google’s mobile operating system.
Challenges of Android updates
Users of non-Pixel Android devices often receive new updates late because different product manufacturers have their timelines for releasing updates. Such conditions cause different versions of the mentioned operating system to be unevenly distributed.
Developers also face challenges in releasing new versions of their apps and applying optimizations to them, which require more resources and effort to ensure compatibility and performance on different devices.
Until January, only 5% of Android phones and tablets used version 13 of this operating system, a relatively minor figure. However, the number of devices equipped with the latest version of Android has increased significantly, and Android 13 is expected to become one of the most popular updates to the platform.
Samsung has played a vital role in the adoption of Android 13. The policy of rapid updates of this company and the extension of the software support period for its products to four years (and up to five years of security patches) are among the most important reasons that have contributed to the faster release of Android 13.
In addition to Samsung, other manufacturers of Android devices have tried to release the Android 13 update faster for their products, thus improving the usage rate of this version.
The low acceptance rate of Android 13
Statistics for April 2023 show that the latest version of the Android operating system, despite being available since August, is only installed on 12.1% of devices equipped with this platform.
The amount of time manufacturers spend releasing new updates is one of the essential key factors in its adoption rate by users. However, some companies like Samsung have changed their update policies to quickly make new versions available to users.
The old versions of Android, including Android 8, Android 7, Android 6, Android 5, and even Android 4.4, still occupy a significant percentage of the market share of this operating system. The share of these old versions varies between 6.7 and 0.6 percent.