Poll: Which version of Android are you running on your smartphone?

Damien Wilde | Sep 30 2021 - 5:00 am PT

Android 12 has been almost a year in the making, but not all smartphones are eligible to get updated when it arrives. Which has us wondering just which Android version you’re currently running on your device.

Unlike iOS, not every OEM offers support for anywhere near as long as they probably should. A case in point is the Samsung Galaxy Note 9: It is more than capable of running Android 11, but the only way to get the latest stable version of the OS is to grab a third-party ROM. Sure, Samsung has cleaned up the way it rolls out updates to devices, but it’s still not perfect unless you pick up a flagship model.

Google has actively stopped or “killed” the long-running web page that showcased Android’s distribution numbers. Obviously, the idea that many Android users across the globe are running outdated software builds isn’t Google’s fault — but rather the fault of OEMs not supporting their devices. However, it’s clear that this is still a source of embarrassment as the data still exists but is hidden away in the Android Studio.

Even so, this data is flawed and out-of-date as even adult site Pornhub has a more accurate grasp of just what Android versions people are running on their smartphones — publishing distribution data back in 2019 that contradicted Google’s public-facing data. Our own Kyle Bradshaw even created AndroidDistribution.io based upon the Android Studio data, but unfortunately it only catalogues versions up to Android 10.

According to the most recent data, Android 9 Pie has the largest install base of any Android version. Considering it was released way back in 2018, that’s disappointing to say the least. One look at iOS and it’s a much better picture. Analytics firm Statista suggests that 85% of iPhones in the wild are running iOS 14 as of August 2021 and not counting the recent iOS 15 release.

It’s hard to compare iOS and Android directly at times, especially with all the various hardware differences and third-party skins. You don’t have to worry about the latest update with a Google Pixel, but that’s not the case with every OEM. A case in point is OnePlus, which with OxygenOS 12 looks to merge with ColorOS in the next Android version. This looks as though it will alienate many longtime fans of the clean OxygenOS experience. In that instance, we can understand why people would stay on Android 11 to avoid a major re-skin and overhaul.

Although in no way scientific, we want to know just what Android version you are running on your “main” or “default” smartphone — not a secondary device or tablet. In the interest of fairness it’s highly unlikely that anyone out there is persevering with any version older than Android 5.0 Lollipop, but be sure to slap a comment down below if you’re seriously doing so.