10 months in, Android Lollipop passes 20% adoption

One in five Android devices is now running the latest version of Google’s mobile operating system. The company released its monthly update to the Platform Versions page for Android today, and once again the latest version has increased its adoption share.

Android Lollipop has not only passed the 20 percent mark — it was once again the only Android version to gain adoption share. The “milestone,” if you will, comes 10 months after Google debuted the Nexus 9, the first device to sport Android 5.0.

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As with any update courtesy of the Platform Versions tool, we have to point out that the data is gathered from the Google Play Store app, which requires Android 2.2 and above. This means devices running older versions are not included, nor are devices that don’t have Google Play installed (many Android phones and tablets in China, Amazon’s Fire line, and so on).

Here are the changes between August and September:

• Android 5.0/5.1 Lollipop (November 2014, March 2015): Up 2.9 points to 21.0 percent
• Android 4.4 KitKat (October 2013): Down 0.1 points to 39.2 percent
• Android 4.1/4.2/4.3 Jelly Bean (July 2012, November 2012, and July 2013): Down 1.8 points to 33.6 percent
• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (December 2011): Down 0.4 points to 3.7 percent
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread (December 2010): Down 0.5 points to 4.6 percent
• Android 2.2 Froyo (May 2010): Down 0.1 points at 0.2 percent

For the sake of comparison, here’s the Android adoption chart for August:

The Android adoption order has remained unchanged. We still have KitKat in first place, Jelly Bean in second, Lollipop in third, Gingerbread in fourth, ICS in fifth, and Froyo in sixth. It will be a long time before Lollipop takes first place, though it’s starting to close in on second place.

In the meantime, Google continues to push ahead with Android Marshmallow development. The latest and greatest version should arrive in a matter of weeks, along with new Nexus devices, and then we’ll watch the Android adoption pie slowly shift all over again.