Google Details Android Fragmentation

Google Android Fragmentation

There’s at least three versions of the Android operating system that have a significant number of users, meaning that developers will likely develop and test for more than just one.

Increased fragmentation of Google’s mobile OS has been a concern, and now, Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is releasing figures to help developers make decisions on which versions they should support, and which ones aren’t worth it. While fragmentation will likely still be a concern, especially for those worried about speed to market, and the cost of support, it’s smart that Google is being as open as possible about the breakdown. In a blog post today, titled “knowing is half the battle,” Google says that most devices, or 54.2 percent, are running on Android 1.6. The second-largest userbase is using Android 1.5 at 27.7 percent. Meanwhile, 1.1 and 2.0 are running 0.3 percent and 2.9 percent respectively.

Google wrote: “In summary, Android 1.5, 1.6, and 2.0.1 are the 3 versions of the platform that are deployed in volume. Our goal is to provide you with the tools and information to make it easy for you to target specific versions of the platform or all the versions that are deployed in volume.” To be even more helpful in the future, Google says it plans to update the dashboard regularly and to include other information like devices per screen size, etc.

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