Android 6.0 Marshmallow user base jumps but Lollipop is still the most widely used OS

Android 6.0 Marshmallow has doubled its spread since December to 2.4% but Android Lollipop has overtaken Android KitKat to become the most widely used OS version, according to figures released by Google. The company has released the percentage share for each Android version starting from the earliest Froyo to the latest Marshmallow.

The data, collected from the Google Play Store during a seven-day period ending on 7 March for three months in a row, shows major gains for Lollipop which currently has 36.1% of total Android users compared to the former leader Android KitKat which now has 34.3%. Of the 36.1% that Lollipop has, more users (19.2%) are on the 5.1 version of the OS compared to the older 5.0 version.

As for Marshmallow, which is still in the process of seeding to most devices, its actual growth was tiny and only around half that of Lollipop over the same period. The older versions saw a constant drop indicating that more and more users are upgrading to the newer version. Jelly bean now has 22.3% market share while Ice Cream Sandwich is down to 2.3%. Gingerbread is at 2.6% and Froyo Android 2.2 is now only installed on 0.1% of all Android devices.

Although Android Marshmallow was launched in October last year, only select flagships and high range models have so far got the updates with many mid-range and lower-range models still uncertain about getting the update. Even amongst the models that have started receiving the update, the rollout has not been uniform with many regions lagging behind others.