Compelling users to update their phones to the latest mobile operating system has been a headache for Google. While the latest uptick in Ice Cream Sandwich adopters may be promising, the actual percentage of adopters remains small. In the 14-day period ending on June 1, only 7.1 percent of Android devices are using Ice Cream Sandwich, a slight increase from its 4.9-percent share during the first 14 days in May.
Looking at the data month over month, Ice Cream Sandwich’s adoption has increased between April and May by over 244 percent. During April, Ice Cream Sandwich had a mere 2.9 percent Android market share.
|
Platform |
Codename |
API Level |
Distribution |
|
Cupcake |
3 |
0.3% |
|
|
Donut |
4 |
0.6% |
|
|
Eclair |
7 |
5.2% |
|
|
Froyo |
8 |
19.1% |
|
|
Gingerbread |
9 |
0.4% |
|
|
10 |
64.6% |
||
|
Honeycomb |
12 |
0.7% |
|
|
13 |
2% |
||
|
Ice Cream Sandwich |
14 |
0.4% |
|
|
15 |
6.7% |
Surprisingly the predominant Android OS, Gingerbread, has seen an increase in adopters, accounting for 65 percent of Android devices while Honeycomb remains at a 2.7 percent market share.
When Digital Trends spoke to Google in March regarding it operating system, the company acknowledged that the adoption rate among users of it latest operating system was slow and low. But the company assured us that the low adoption was only temporary as new smartphones toting Ice Cream Sandwich would saturate the market — including the latest wave of devices announced at Mobile Congress. Note that the statistics are an approximation, intended to represent all Android devices by collecting data from the devices that have accessed Google Play every 14-day cycle.
The biggest barriers for existing smartphone users looking to receive the latest Android OS updates come from carriers and original equipment manufacturers. Carriers and OEMs delay the latest Android OS updates in an effort to install their own Ice-Cream-Sandwich-compatible bloatware, before releasing the latest Android OS update to existing smartphone users. Some devices may not even receive an OS update, like Sony’s Xperia Play, in a ploy to attract existing smartphone users to the newest devices sporting the latest OS.
According to Google, a coalition of OEMs and carriers got together and pledged to update all of their devices within 18 months. Three months later, we’re finally seeing the “coalition” take charge. HTC, Samsung, Motorla, LG and Sony are all rolling out Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) updates. (See our Android 4.0 update schedule to see when it will reach your phone.)
Despite the slow adoption of Ice Cream Sandwich, the next iteration of Android is just around the corner. Android 5.0 Jelly Bean will be ready for deployment first in Nexus tablets.
Michael you should check the phones company website. They usually have the latest version.
Companys must stop selling phones with locked bootloaders, so the users can choose the versions to install in our devices.
Companys must stop selling phones with locked bootloaders, so the users can choose the versions to install in our devices.
Because the upgrade path is horrible and in the hands of the manufacturers not Google/Comsumers
That’s Wifi not widow
Stay with 2.3 .4 . I have 2.11.6 and the update is horrible. My widow is unreliable and phone shuts off for no reason.
Michael you should check the phones company website. They usually have the latest version.
I have no updates. I just have 2.3.4 wont show any higher updates for me.
I wonder why? Maybe they should stop putting Froyo and Gingerbread on Androids and upgrade straight to ICS!
oh look, this story again… YAAAAAAAAWN. adoption isn’t slow, google doesn’t own responsibility to update the phone. we’re all very very aware that providers are in charge of this, and at least you aren’t forced into buying a new phone every single year to get the latest update. in fact this process is quite simple to do on your own if you are so inclined. google releases 2 new updates every year. if most phones are running gingerbread that means most phones have an OS from the last 12 months. RIGHT ON PAR WITH APPLE, and the updates include legacy devices also, something apple doesn’t do. these stories are stale and poorly thought out. find something you actually have a clue about to report on.
My Samsung Note updated itself. Big problems with the music programme and EATS the battery up like mad, have to carry backup battery to get through the day. Was doing OK until the update.
What is the highest version you can update the Note to? My son is interested in it but I’ve read it can only run up to 2.3. Is that true or can you run ICS?
If you do a search for “random reboot” (“RR”) and “sleep of death” (“SOD”), you’ll see the answer to this. ICS is not universally stable yet, and for many devices that have received official manufacturer OTAs for ICS, the user community has been very unhappy.
I have a wireless tab that has ICS and a smartphone that doesn’t. My tab has lost features and has had “random reboots” and “sleeps of death” as a result of the official manufacturer’s ICS OTA. I can live with that with this wireless tab, because I don’t depend on it for timely communications. But if my smartphone received any OTA and as a result became so unreliable, I would be absolutely furious.
I would much rather never have ICS on my smartphone, than to receive it and have unreliability