Nougat makes steady gains in August distribution numbers, but so does Marshmallow

The latest Android distribution numbers put Nougat adoption — including both 7.0 and 7.1 — at 13.5%, an increase of 2% from a month prior. Android 7.0 Nougat is installed on 12.3% of active Android devices, while 7.1 accounts for 1.2%.

An interesting trend over the last two months has been the rise of Marshmallow devices. After holding steady at 31.2% in both May and June, Marshmallow saw a modest increase to 31.8% last month. The OS picked up a 0.5% increase in August as well, bringing its share to 32.3%.

With Lollipop falling to under 30% (it's now at 29.2% for both 5.0 and 5.1), Marshmallow is the most widely-used version of Android globally. And although KitKat is down a percentage point from July, it still occupies a share of 17.1%.

Android distribution numbers August

Elsewhere, Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Jelly Bean account for 9% of active devices, a minor decrease of 0.5% from last month. With the Nougat update now rolling out to more devices and manufacturers offering budget phones with Android 7.0, the operating system will hopefully pick up some much-needed momentum in the coming months.

Android O is on the horizon, but the update will be limited to the Nexuses and Pixel devices initially, with the likes of the Galaxy S8, Moto Z2 Force, and OnePlus 5 taking a few months at least to receive the update.

Harish Jonnalagadda
Senior Editor - Asia

Harish Jonnalagadda is a Senior Editor overseeing Asia at Android Central. He leads the site's coverage of Chinese phone brands, contributing to reviews, features, and buying guides. He also writes about storage servers, audio products, and the semiconductor industry. Contact him on Twitter at @chunkynerd.