Lollipop Proving Increasingly Tasty For Android Users

Google has revealed encouraging figures for the adoption of its latest mobile operating system, Android Lollipop.

In its most recent Android Developers Dashboard, the company revealed that 9.7 percent of Android users were now on Lollipop 5.0 or 5.1.

This is a significant rise from the 5.4 percent share recorded in early April and the 3 percent seen in early March, no doubt helped by several major new devices sporting the software.

Growing presence

First announced in October 2014, Android 5.0 Lollipop offered a wide range of visual and interface improvements alongside a selection of hardware tweaks. A new “Material Design” feature means that the software works across the entire range of Android-enabled devices, meaning users get a consistent look and feel whether they’re using a smartphone, tablet or TV.

So far, Lollipop can be found in devices including the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, HTC One M9, LG G4, Nexus 6 and 9, and the Sony Xperia Z4 tablet.

Despite this growth, however, it is the earlier versions of Android that still reign supreme in terms of user numbers.

Android KitKat currently leads the way with 39.8 percent market share, ahead of Jelly Bean with 39.2 percent.

Older versions proved they were still holding strong, however, with Ice Cream Sandwich and Gingerbread weighing in with 5.3 percent and 5.7 percent, collectively, and Froyo clinging on with 0.3 percent.

Google pulls the data from devices running the latest Google Play Store app, which is compatible with Android 2.2 and higher. Each snapshot of data represents all the devices that visited the Google Play Store in the prior seven days.

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