Google Releases Android 9 Pie as Previous Oreo Release is Installed on Just 12% of Devices

[m0sher]

One of the main reasons I would not want to go back to android. Imagine owning an S9 stuck in Oreo for the next eight months after P is released. No thank you.

Can you imagine every iPhone back to 5S will be getting a speed increase when iOS 12 is released shortly ?

 

[Seoras]

Where/who comes up with these iOS adoption figures?
Every time I see one of these posts I find they are VERY pessimistic compared to what I'm seeing.
I have a popular App which I can check iOS version usage against. I get:
11.x = 93%
10.x = 5.3%
< 10 = 1.7%

 

[TimmeyCook]

Keep in mind the "current install base" chart is world wide. US installs are MUCH higher. I have 20k users on my app and 64.1% are on Oreo and 26% are on Nougat.

For some reason, in the United States, Android devices see a very short lifespan.

Android has the majority of the marketshare, but in usage share, it is below iOS.

iOS devices last more on the hands of people and frequently see more than one user in their "lifetime".

 

[bollman]

The iOS users not on the latest version is the tech-savvy who managed to stop the phone from auto-updating, or people managing to kepp older phones alive. Both iPhones and iPads are more or less useless unless (wow, 3 less in a row ) you update since Apple throws notifications at you about the same rate as youtube commercials. I think moste people update just to be able to use the phone.
When it comes to Android, even if your phone supports updates, most people never bother, and frankly, since the lifetime of a phone is about 2 years, do you really need the update?

 

[KPandian1]

Pie (sic) because it will be installed on just 3.14% of the user base by year end.

Nice.

Nerd!

 

[coumerelli]

“...that's similar to the interface of the iPhone X”

Imagine that.

 

[MacMan988]

I see some major similarities between the iOS and android 9. Swipe up gesture, Android version of the iOS 12's "screen time" feature.

 

[JaySoul]

Project Treble is already slowly starting to make a difference.

Pie is available now on Pixel and Essential phones, and within a few weeks should be on at least another few big phones.

Of course, Samsung will take a long time (probably early 2019), and that's one reason the "Pie Chart" will never compare to iOS.

But Android is definitely getting better and I would have thought it would be up to 25% by the end of 2018.

 

[Andres Cantu]

Sad or impressive? I’ll admit, out of most versions of Android, Gingerbread was my favorite.

Depends on how you look at it, but for I’d go with sad because no mobile OS that old should be in use in 2018.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Yeah except my mothers phone running Android 5 can still run pretty much any App on Google Play. Can iOS 5 run 90% of the App Store?

This whole dig against Android is pointless unless you're obsessed with always having the latest and greatest. Older versions of Android are still good and completely usable. Probably more usable than older versions of iOS.

my dig is not pointless.

Which model phone is your mothers Android? Manufacturer/Model?
I'll bet it's a Samsung if you claim able to run 90% of the App Store and it's those using Googles PlayStore API.

Sony Xperia XZ Compact which is a premium chipset used by all the major top tier manufacturers STILL cannot run the top 70% of Play Store Apps. Asus' models as well for over 5yrs each iteration now. Xperia compact line and their Xperia Z also had issues running apps: Themes outside Sony's offerings, Utility apps are pretty much universal, yet Games/Puzzles, educational apps (not much in the store) all seem to suffer.

You'd find an App in the PlayStore stating required chipset and the Android you have passes with flying colours yet when you goto download or look at the very bottom info of the presented app: oh no! Not compatible and for no damn reason that the coder never bothered to TEST against that model!

Why in the WORLD do you think Android is becoming less and less supported on existing user base of handsets?! It's not just the security updates failing, it's the lack of supported apps as well. Thus users that can afford it just end up switching contracts or changing their carrier contracts to upgrade every year!

My iPhone 8 and like my iPhone SE and 5 can INDEED run 90% of apps in the Apple App Store!

 

[travelsheep]

That's because you have to fight off automatic updates like a f***** pest, it's he**uva annoying and constantly nagging. I'm still successfully on iOS 10 (on iPhone 6S), my mom lost the fight long ago and has to put up with a lot of s*** now.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Keep in mind the "current install base" chart is world wide. US installs are MUCH higher. I have 20k users on my app and 64.1% are on Oreo and 26% are on Nougat.

True!

But the worldwide number is what people tend to use when talking about Android... usually in the context of "Android dominates" or "85% market share for Android"

The fact is... none of that really matters. Just use what you like.

For instance... I still like my iPhone... even though it *only* has 12% market share worldwide.

 

[Rogifan]

If Google releases a new design language or the OS update includes new gestures how does that get on your phone via the Play store? And what about security patches? If all of this stuff does go through the Play store what’s the point of releasing a new named OS every year?

 

[wolfboy]

I can tell you anecdotally that nobody I know updates iOS on purpose, in fear of a slower device. Between how aggressive and naggy the iOS updates are and how it subtly auto-installs after you enter the pass code, there's a lot of unintentional updates going on.

 

[acctman]

Internals are frequently upgraded as Android is very modular. It doesn't require a "whole OS" upgrade. So one could technically be running an older build of Android per se, but with latest internals.

Internals mean nothing when a developer is restricted to features that are 3-4 years old and you can’t make use of the new stuff. This is why android apps tend to be less feature pack as there iOS counter part.

 

[oneMadRssn]

For people who don't know how Android works:

Once a year Google releases a major Android update. But the issue is that is an update for STOCK Android.

For example, my Galaxy s9 is running a Samsung Experience version of Android, which means that Samsung will need to make sure its modified version works well with the updated Android version, so I won't be seeing the update for a couple of months after the release. The same applies to most other manufacturers which have to put quite a bit of effort to make sure their custom android versions function properly.

The thing you failed to mention is that Google releases the preview version of an Android update, which is usually pretty good, as far back as 6 months before final release. Top manufacturers like Samsung and LG should have no problem making sure their modified versions work well with the updated Android well before the final version is released.

Google continues to provide preview builds at every step. With Android Pie, all the APIs were finalized and locked down nearly 3 months ago, and the release candidate preview was out nearly 2 months ago. You make it sound like Samsung and the rest can't even begin testing until the final version is out, but that's just not true. They can, but they choose not to.

Also, there are a lot of android phones out there, and often upgrading to the latest version of Android is not financially viable for the manufacturers. If you are buying a phone for $300 you don't really care about the Android version and specs too much, you care about the price.

Apple also sells $300ish phones, but they get the same software update as the flagship phone usually. Furthermore, Apple phones tend to continue to get OS updates for an average of 4 years after being discontinued. Whereas someone buying an Android phone can hope for only one major OS update sometime during the life cycle of a phone; rarely more. At the very least, this exposes Android users to significant security risk as they are running software with known vulnerabilities. So cost is not a good excuse.

 

[heov]

What's 12% of 2 billion Android phones?

If Android users cared, they wouldn't keep buying Android phones, now would they? Clearly it's not a major issue for Android OEMs. Samsung will release Android P next year, and still sell millions of phones.

 

[GadgetBen]

The 5% using Apple devices on older iOS annoy me.

Go and buy an Android phone!

 

[jonnysods]

I wish iOS had an app drawer to bury useless apps.

I also wish Apple had the dynamic notifications and widgets Android has.

Annnnd that's about it I reckon!!

 

[oneMadRssn]

Yeah except my mothers phone running Android 5 can still run pretty much any App on Google Play. Can iOS 5 run 90% of the App Store?

This whole dig against Android is pointless unless you're obsessed with always having the latest and greatest. Older versions of Android are still good and completely usable. Probably more usable than older versions of iOS.

How many security vulnerabilities do you figure Google has fixed since Android 5? Hope your mom doesn't do any banking or emailing on this phone...

Where/who comes up with these iOS adoption figures?
Every time I see one of these posts I find they are VERY pessimistic compared to what I'm seeing.
I have a popular App which I can check iOS version usage against. I get:
11.x = 93%
10.x = 5.3%
< 10 = 1.7%

Odds are people downloading a popular app aren't running the newest OS, right? Odds are the people still on iOS10 don't download any apps. What I mean is, your sample group might be self-selected to be the kind that would have a newer phone or pay more attention to updates.

 

[cppguy]

The iOS users not on the latest version is the tech-savvy who managed to stop the phone from auto-updating, or people managing to kepp older phones alive.

Also if you're still on iOS 10, family sharing doesn't work, because the button to enable iCloud storage sharing is only present on iOS 11. You could enable family sharing on a Mac, but if you don't have one, upgrading to iOS 11 is the only way. The stubborn ones miss out on the new stuff. 3-way Facetime is going to be one of those must have features on iOS 12. Not upgrading is not an option for many.

 

[lkrupp]

Internals are frequently upgraded as Android is very modular. It doesn't require a "whole OS" upgrade. So one could technically be running an older build of Android per se, but with latest internals.

You’re trying to put lipstick on a pig and not doing a very good job at it to boot.

 

[lostngone]

Oh, it is called "Pie"...

I was reading up on it a month ago and they were just calling it "P". I thought that was a really strange name.

 

[Lankyman]

They copied everything, eg notifications where rectangles, now they are rounded rectangles, switches on their "control center" are also now round buttons like iOS. Copying for the sake of being equal.

Imagine if Apple did the same...

Good grief, give me Android notifications any day. iOS notifications especially getting rid of them is a real PITA. BTW you can customise icons etc. simply because it's Android.
[doublepost=1533590930][/doublepost]

You’re trying to put lipstick on a pig and not doing a very good job at it to boot.

You simply don't need a complete OS update as Google are updating and adding features throughout the year. iOS has to have a complete refit, Android does not.

 

[logicstudiouser]

If Apple didn't make it so difficult for people to choose not to update or gave users the option to downgrade, I bet the number on iOS 11 would be well under 50%. The people I know that are on iOS 11 wish they didn't upgrade.