It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of the latest Android features and forget that many people are still using older versions. Google occasionally gives us a peek into what the Android landscape truly looks like by sharing updated platform distribution statistics. It had been almost a year since the last update, but recently, Google refreshed its breakdown.

In the past, these figures were readily available on Google's developer pages. However, Google eventually stopped this practice and started hiding them within tools like Android Studio. 9to5Google noticed an update to the numbers, providing a snapshot of Android usage as of early December.

Looking back to April of last year, the usage trends across older Android versions haven't changed dramatically. The most current release is gaining traction, while the five previous versions still have over 10% usage. Although, some important differences are worth noting. The older releases are closer in usage than last time when there was a significant difference between Android 14 and 13.

There's also a noticeable shift in the adoption of the current release. In April, Android 15 was only on about 4.5% of devices. But now, Android 16 has gained a larger share, reaching 7.5% in just a few months.

Given Google's recent adjustments to the Android release schedule, this change makes sense. Android 15 didn't have much momentum, but with Android 16, it seems like everyone is more motivated to release updates. For example, I updated my phone as soon as I saw the notification, because I was really curious about the new features. I think many people did the same, and that explains why Android 16 has a better adoption when comparing to Android 15. This demonstrates the impact of a well-coordinated launch on user adoption rates.

This kind of information not only gives us insight into how Android users are experiencing Google's platform, but it also helps developers target users, ensuring their apps can be used by the widest possible audience. It's a bit disappointing that the numbers aren't updated more frequently, but it's always good to see Google release new data like this.