Android Ice Cream Sandwich penetration finally hits 10 per cent

Google has confirmed that Android Ice Cream Sandwich is now present on over 10 per cent of devices within its mobile ecosystem.

According to the search giant’s latest figures Android Ice Cream Sandwich now powers 10.9 per cent of devices on Google’s mobile platform. The vast majority of Android users, some 63.6 per cent, are still on Gingerbread (version 2.3.3 – 2.3.7).

Most alarming of all is that there are currently more Android users running Froyo 2.2, which launched over two-years ago, than Android Ice Cream Sandwich, despite the platform now being nine months old.

Lauded as the update that would solve Android fragmentation, Ice Cream Sandwich whilst bringing in tons of improvements and optimisations failed to achieve this goal. Google’s mobile platform is as fragmented as ever and with the launch of Jelly Bean just around the corner it’s only going to get worse – unless you have a Nexus-brand handset that is.

So who’s to blame – Google of its hardware partners?

Google’s Hiroshi Lockheimer, VP of Engineering on the Android team, recently said that the responsibility of updating handsets rests solely with manufacturers. Google produces the code, ships it out to its hardware partners and, because it’s open source, it’s up to them to implement it and decide the time frame.
 
‘It’s up to the manufacturers to see what their targets are; some may say we want to be the first one, or they may decide a fully customised reskinned experience is what they want to do,’ Lockheimer said.

Google’s proposed Android developer kit could potentially inhibit fragmentation going forwards by making the updating process for manufacturers and developers a lot simpler.

‘We’re enabling folks who work on hardware to work in parallel with us; that could accelerate updates but we also want to make sure silicon providers and manufacturers the time they need to fully optimise their products and get updated versions out,’ added Lockheimer.

This, of course, will take time but it’s good to see that Google is finally attempting to sort out the mess it’s in. Compared to Apple’s iOS and Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform, Google is a long way behind. So for the time being the same rule as always exists within Android: if you’re serious about updates, get a Nexus-brand device.