We are accustomed that every year Google is releasing a new version of its OS and after some time, this new version is implemented on some devices. Unfortunately, the percentage of devices that adopts the OS is small, because the development for manufacturers is at a high cost. So here comes software fragmentation. Google is offering fixes and updates not to let the outdated software become insecure. With this purpose, the company has created Project Treble and APEX.
What’s the Current Situation of the Updates?
We don’t see improvement in the updates. Looking at Google’s page for the distribution of Android versions, we haven’t seen new information since October 2018. Google’s dashboard doesn’t include Android Pie that is a standard on the latest devices that uses this software. This is very surprising if you think how many high-end flagships have been rolled out until now. Besides this, we can’t even talk about the Android Q that is now at the third beta release. Maybe things are good, but if no data is presented, we don’t know how to analyze the new statistics (the missing ones).
Also, Google says that the statistics will come soon because “the data feed is under maintenance.” What are we asking ourselves is what kind of problems Google must have? The message from above it’s the same from December, so what is really happening with the feed? Maybe the company doesn’t want to report the Android version distribution. No official statements have been released by Google.
To sum up, all this kind of data are essential for developers. Having the feed updated by Google, this will help the developers to decide their apps’ minimum API levels. Also, the data won’t help the Chinese developers. Take note that the information is global, not in a specific region.
Agnes is a technical writer, being in touch with reports to come up with the latest tech leaks.
