DeviceDashboard
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Android Dashboard update shows Jelly Bean on 10 percent of active hardware
The last time we checked out Google's Android Device Dashboard, penetration of the latest version had reached 1.8 percent of active hardware. A couple of months later and Android 4.1 / 4.2 Jelly Bean is accounting for more than 10 percent of devices that accessed Google Play in the last 14 days. The share of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich devices also grew to represent 29.1 percent of active hardware, and while 2.3 Gingerbread still has the largest slice, it slid below half to 47.6 percent. That means developers can more confidently taking advantage of the latest APIs, but while the environment is much improved over when the dashboard launched in 2009, those fragments still mean some hard choices on exactly what to target with apps. Hit the source link for a larger look at the current numbers.
Android's Device Dashboard offers version distribution insight, pity for users still on 1.1
Google's Android team has released a cool new site to help developers keep tabs on the distribution of the platform's various versions, something that's going to become increasingly important as it continues to splinter across manufacturers and countless devices, specs, and capabilities. The Device Dashboard is presently showing that 1.6 (Donut, if you recall correctly) owns the lion's share of the market, but 1.5 Cupcake is still contributing 27.7 percent to the mix -- thanks largely to the Hero, we suspect. 2.0.1, only available in wide distribution on the Droid at this point, owns another 14.8 percent, but you can bet this whole pie is going to drastically repaint itself countless times in 2010 -- and each version brings different bullet points to the table, which means devs are going to be facing tough choices deciding what to target. It may never have Apple-style hardware and software uniformity, but at least stuff like this'll help app shops make more informed decisions as they push out products.
