Android Nougat now the most widely used Android version

Just a little more than 17 months after it was officially rolled out (back in the summer of 2016), Android Nougat has now become the most popular version of Google’s Android mobile operating system, surpassing Android Marshmallow in the process. This is somewhat already expected, given the fact that just a month ago, Android Nougat had overtaken Android Lollipop to become the second most popular version of Android.

Android 7.0 Nougat had improved 1.2 points compared to the last month to reach a usage share of 22.3 percent, while Android 7.1 Nougat increased by 1 point to 6.2 percent. Joined together, both versions combine for a total of 28.5 percent. Back at the start of January, Android Nougat had hit a 26.3 percent share, but has since increased to 28.5 percent as we enter into February.

Of course, everybody already knows Android Nougat is not the newest version of the world’s most widely used mobile operating system. That would be Android Oreo, which made its debut (initial release date) back in August of last year. So how is Android Oreo faring to date? The answer is: slowly but surely progressing, with Android 8.0 Oreo (0.8 percent) and Android 8.1 Oreo (0.3 percent) combining to reach 1 percent.

Still, it is worth mentioning that the past few weeks have seen a number of Android Oreo updates already being deployed to various high profile smartphone releases, including Motorola’s Moto X4, Huawei’s Mate 9 phablet, and the OnePlus 5T. As for fans of Samsung, they might be excited to know that the biggest smartphone vendor in the planet is ending its beta program, which means that Oreo will be coming soon to Galaxy handsets in the coming days or weeks.

As mentioned earlier in this post, the previous most popular version was Android Marshmallow (which was released in the market back in October of 2015), but it has since slid 0.5 points to 28.1 percent. Third in terms of market share is Android Lollipop, with Android 5.0 Lollipop and Android 5.1 Lollipop combining to total 24.6 percent. Further down the list is Android KitKat (at 12 percent), Android Jelly Bean (5 percent), Android Ice Cream Sandwich (0.4 percent), and Android Gingerbread (0.3 percent).

For more information on current Android usage, head on to Google’s developers web page.