It has been several months since Google released Android 8.0 Oreo to the public. However the latest figures shown on the Android Developers website (see screenshot above) has shown that so far, only 0.5% of Android devices are running on the latest update, which is rather unfortunate given the ton of neat features that the Oreo update is packing.
Presumably the majority of the devices that are running on Oreo are the Pixel and Nexus handsets that are eligible for the update. However we have also seen how OEMs like HTC have been pushing out the update to unlocked HTC U11 handsets. We expect that Oreo’s install numbers will increase over time, but for now it looks like Android 6.0 Marshmallow is still the most-installed version of Android at 29.7%.
Given that Marshmallow is basically 2 years old, it is impressive (and a bit alarming) that it is still the most popular build of Android. Even 2016’s Nougat is sitting at 23.3%, which is actually lower than 2014’s Android Lollipop which the combined versions adds up to 26.3%. The fragmentation of Android is something that Google is very aware of, and it is something the company is still trying to fix.
One of their more recent attempts is Project Treble, where Google is trying to cut down the number of steps needed before an update finds its way onto a smartphone.
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