Google, like Apple, posts their mobile OS adoption rates. This one was updated on January 5th.
As you can see, Lollipop, Google’s latest rev of Android, is not even on the list. Kit-Kat, the version before Lollipop (Android 4.4) is at 39.1%. Jellybean (Android 4.1.x through 4.3) is, collectively, at about 46%. Lollipop is just not making a big enough dent to make the list.
It’s important to note that the Android data is gathered by monitoring checkins to the Google Play app store. In this case, the latest chart was built using checkins over a 7 day period ending on January 5th. A different approach than Apple’s, but it does give a sense of the numbers.
From the linked ExtremeTech article:
Slow adoption of Android is a fact of life, and things are still better now than they used to be. A slow start to Lollipop’s deployment isn’t the end of the world, and it doesn’t point to user discontent. Lollipop isn’t something people go out and buy, it’s delivered to them whenever an OTA is ready.
The Android distribution model is naturally fragmented (because different vendors ship their own custom version of the OS) and there are competing, forked versions of Android that are competing for adoption with the mothership (Samsung’s Tizen is a prime example).
As reported a few weeks ago, Apple’s numbers (as of January 5th) show iOS 8 at 68%. A world of difference.
How does Apple measure? The Apple page linked says “as measured by the App Store”…I thought they measured it pretty much the same way Google did?
Small correction: Tizen is not an Android fork.
“Lollipop isn’t something people go out and buy, it’s delivered to them whenever an OTA is ready.”
Most likely, Lollipop comes on whatever handset “people go out and buy.” It will only gain market share as fast as 1. people buy new handsets, and 2. people recycle old down-rev handsets.
Terrible model, fragmentation-wise.
Yeah, but 68% for iOS 8 is terrible when you consider that means 32% of iOS users have turned down iOS 8 at least once a week if not more since it launched. Not only does iOS 7 hammer on you to upgrade, but so do the Apple apps, and many 3rd party app updates.
Amongst my friends who aren’t yet using iOS 8, the reason is they were so unhappy with the iOS 6 to 7 update that they are disillusioned with Apple software, and now they have heard that iOS 8 has even more crashes and bugs than 7 (which is unfortunately true) and they don’t want any new software.
I’m still wondering why Apple Maps 1.0 gets Scott Forestall fired but iOS 7 and 8 being much more buggy rates a yawn and a who-cares? from Apple. I think operating systems have less of an excuse for bugs, and especially their 7 and 8 versions. And the workaround for Apple Maps 1.0 was “use Google Maps.” The only workaround for iOS 8 is to take a Valium, try not to throw your Apple devices at an f’ing wall, and hope that one day soon there will be a half-decent device from someone other than Apple that you can move to.