Android KitKat use doubles but Jelly Bean rules

Kitkat i.e. Android 4.4 is the latest version of android next to Jelly Bean (4.3).
Google, Inc. said KitKat, the latest iteration of its Android OS, runs 5.3 percent of Android devices worldwide as of April 1 compared to 2.5 percent a month earlier.

This because South Korean smartphone and tablet makers Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics have begun rolling out KitKat on some of their most popular digital devices.

Jelly Bean, however, still lords it over all Android versions. Jelly Bean (versions 4.1.x , 4.2.x, and 4.3) is running on a total of 61.4 percent of all Android devices, Google said.

Older Gingerbread still runs 17.8 percent of Android devices while Ice Cream Sandwich keeps 14.3 percent going.

Very few Android devices are still running the earliest versions of the mobile OS. Some 1.1 percent are on Froyo, while just 0.1 percent are running the tablet-centric Honeycomb.

Google's data is based on smartphone and tablet visits to the Play Store app, which supports Android 2.2 and above. This means that devices running older versions are not included.

Google's new numbers come after Apple last week said that 85 percent of iPads, iPhones and iPod touch devices are running iOS 7, six months after the mobile OS made its debut. Twelve percent are still using iOS 6 while only 3 percent are running an older version of Cupertino's mobile OS.

Google claims Android is the world's most popular mobile OS, powering more than a billion phones and tablets.