Android 'Jelly Bean' usage share more than doubles in a month

While the aging Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" operating system continues to be the most popular version, Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" finally has the 2 percent market share milestone in its sights.

New data on the state of the Android ecosystem has been posted to Google’s Android Developers site. The big reveal? Gingerbread, the version of the Android mobile operating system released back in December 2010, is still leading with 57.5% of Android OS share. Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is at 20.9%, and Android 2.2 (Froyo) has 14%. Yes, Froyo – released in May 2010.

While Android 2.3 'Gingerbread,' first released December 2010, continues to be the most popular version, Android 4.1 'Jelly Bean' has made rapid, albeit overall modest, progress.

Android 4.1 'Jelly Bean' finally has 3 percent usage share in its sights, but Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' continues to gain ground faster, currently powering more than a quarter of Android devices.

Android 4.1 and 4.2 'Jelly Bean' sees another huge jump in usage share, finally taking it over the 10 percent barrier.

While Android 2.3 'Gingerbread,' remains the most popular version, Android 4.1 'Jelly Bean' is making rapid, albeit overall modest progress.

It’s a brand new month, which means it’s time for a fresh look at the distribution of current and past Android versions. As we had anticipated, Jelly Bean has grown ever so slightly, reaching just 2.7 percent of Android users, up from 1.8 percent in October.

It’s the beginning of a new month, which means Google has updated its worldwide Android distribution numbers. Surprisingly, recent versions of Android now account for a large percentage of the overall distribution of devices. Ice Cream Sandwich has made a significant jump to nearly 21%, up from 16% this time last month.

As can be seen in the above graphic, Jelly Bean continues its growth, which is nowhere near last month’s increase of 8.5%.  Unfortunately, the numbers still aren’t at a point where Google (and Android customers) should be satisfied.