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The Samsung Galaxy S6, which was released last month, came with Android Lollipop. TheJournal.ie

New flagships are giving Android Lollipop a much-needed push

The release of phones like the Samsung Galaxy S6 has helped the latest version of Android reach almost 10% of devices.

SINCE IT ARRIVED back in November, Android Lollipop has taken its time in rolling out, but the OS is beginning to gather some momentum as almost 10% of devices now run it.

The first version 5.0 accounts for the majority of Lollipop users with 9% of devices now running it while its first update 5.1 is only on 0.9%.

This is down to newer devices like the Samsung Galaxy S6 and HTC One M9 being released last month and running the first version of Lollipop.

Some older devices have received the update as well, but the different hardware and design requirements for each phone means that all new updates on Android take a long time to arrive (if they arrive at all).

KitKat, the version of Android which preceded Lollipop, remains the most popular version of Android with almost 40% of devices running it. Others like Jelly Bean account for 39.2% while older versions before that account for 11% of all devices.

Android user update Android Developers Android Developers

In comparison, 81% of iPhone and iPads are now running iOS 8, the latest version of Apple’s operating system while iOS 7 is only on 17%.

When it was released in late September, it only took a few days for it to be running on almost half of all iOS devices (46%). At that time, iOS 7 was running on 49% of active iPhone and iPad devices.

Fewer devices to release on and a direct connection to Apple (similar to Google and its Nexus series) means uptake of new iOS updates is generally quicker.

iOS 8 update Apple Developers Apple Developers

The figures for both iOS and Android are measured by those visiting the App Store and Google Play respectively.

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Quinton O'Reilly
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