Android 12 is running on 13.3% of all devices ahead of Android 13 launch

At the start of this month, Google updated the Android distribution numbers to reveal that Android 12 is running on 13.3% of devices.

Before the August 4 update, Google last refreshed the Android Platform/API Version Distribution in Android Studio on May 9. Four months ago, Android 12 was not yet listed in the distribution numbers and its current inclusion comes before the launch of Android 13. 

That said, there is evidence to suggest that Android 12 and above in May were at approximately 6.6% but was not explicitly listed in Android Studio. The green pie chart is something 9to5Google created to replicate how the information was visually presented when Android distribution numbers were released monthly. It pulls the same data (directly from Google) used by Android Studio.

In May, our chart totalled 93.3% and we’re assuming the remainder needed to get to 100% is predominantly Android 12 (but could also incorporate 12L and the 13 Beta). It’s unclear why Google did not officially note Android 12 three months earlier. (If we’re correct, Android Studio in May grouped together Android 11 and 12 for whatever reason.)

With that logic, the August pie chart totals to 99.8%. Some of the remaining .2% could be Android 12L, which has its own API level (32) given the tablet and foldable improvements. The vast majority of that should come from the latest Made by Google devices (Pixel 3a and newer).

Meanwhile, Android 11 is now at 27% from 23.8% in May. It remains the most-used version of Android today, with Android 10 following at 22.3%. Android 9 Pie is still at 14.5% and four years later still beats the latest stable release. 

When Google released this data monthly, it was compiled from Android devices that accessed the Play Store during a seven-day period ending on the provided date. The methodology is presumably unchanged. 

The last monthly release was in October 2018 and May 2019 saw the first updated figures since then. Google issued new stats in April 2020, November 2021, and May 2022. Google now no longer offers Android distribution info on any official website, instead only showing the data in Android Studio. The “Create New Project wizard” gives app developers a chart to see what OS release they should target to get the most users, while balancing what features they can take advantage of.

Dylan Roussel and Kyle Bradshaw contributed to this article.

Thanks tipster