The following pie chart and table is based on the number of Android devices that have accessed Google Play within a 14-day period ending on the data collection date noted below.
Collection date was March 5, 2012.
Android fragmentation
The following pie chart and table is based on the number of Android devices that have accessed Google Play within a 14-day period ending on the data collection date noted below.
Collection date was March 5, 2012.
And of course that results in much higher costs for conception, design, building and testing on Android devices. Overall, it makes the ecosystem less attractive for apps that need a direct return on investment.
It so happens that Apple set up such an efficient model that they can
shift millions of users to a new OS overnight. This skews the picture and makes Android look worse than it really is.
I don’t think it’s that big of a deal, to be honest. Most Android apps advertise compatibility from 2.2 up. If you were to take iOS out of the equation and looked at historic OS upgrade cycles, this distribution isn’t bad at all. 61% on 2.3.3+ is pretty good. It’s only behind by a single major release.
Now, the bad news is that developers won’t be able to take advantage of new APIs to build amazing apps and games. But that’s not going to happen for different reasons. OS version is probably #5 on that list, right behind inability to monetize and severe hardware fragmentation.
What I’m saying is, developers need to overcome few major obstacles before even getting to OS version as a limiting factor. This is why I think that chart is largely meaningless.
It’s only behind by two major releases.–
Fixed it.
If you’re referring to Honeycomb as a major point release then you’re wrong. 3.x was a stop-gap tablet-only OS which was just a reactionary effort to counter the iPad until they had a workable solution to unify everything in 4.0
If you’re referring to Honeycomb as a major point release then you’re wrong. 3.x was a stop-gap tablet-only OS which was just a reactionary effort to counter the iPad until they had a workable solution to unify everything in 4.0
Oops, yes, my bad. Forgot that 3.x was tablet only.
I’ve written a few posts on this topic: version fragmentation in Android is of questionable importance, but there is no doubt that it has been getting worse over time, not better.
http://pxldot.com/post/19314504833/android-fragmentation-update-03-14-12
And how many Android device manufacturers are skinning new versions of the OS to keep it familiar to their existing non-tech customers?
The chart isn’t even displayed on my 2.2 lg optimus…. I’d rather have an iPhone.
as an android developer thats in demand and earning mega bucks while targetting 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.2, 4.03 without problems, implementing systems that adhere to or go beyond security best practices, and utilising latest features wherever necessary and available, my take is: this article is wrong on all points other than the stats (but they’re out-of-date already). Android is clearly also a somewhat more enviromentally friendly (“green”) platform than iOS.
Clearly somewhat (sic) more environmentally friendly ? What the hell has that got to do with a mobile OS and app development ???