Droid Life

Tag: Oreo

  • Project Treble Might be Showing Signs of Speeding Up Android Updates

    Project Treble, one of the biggest features from Android 8 “Oreo” that aimed to help speed up major Android updates from manufacturers, is showing signs of having some success. Sure, it has been two years since Treble was first introduced, but from Oreo to Pie and now Android 10, Google thinks the update situation in Android is only looking up.

    They provided a couple of meaningful numbers in a blog post today to show the jump in updates they’ve seen over the past two years, thanks to Treble.

    When they launched Android 9 Pie in July of 2018, with manufacturers having almost a year to update to Android 8 Oreo, just 8.9% of devices were running Oreo. A year later, with Android 10 about to arrive and a year for OEMs to update to Pie, 22.6% of devices in the ecosystem were on Android 9.

    While those numbers don’t show a change to say 60% or 80% of Android users on the current build, they do show a jump in adoption of the next version of Android following the introduction of Treble.

    Obviously, the big test will be to see Android 10 adoption numbers once Android 11 is ready. They should be greatly improved, though. As Google noted today, companies like OnePlus, Xiaomi, and Essential all released Android 10 updates within days of Google doing so for its Pixel line-up. Samsung has started beta testing Android 10 too, which could be proof that they are finding a grove after improving their updates to Android 9 last year.

    Have we asked if you are running Android 10 yet? Maybe we should.

    // Android Developers Blog

  • RIP, Desserts.

    Google announced this morning that it’s done with Android desserts and will refer to new Android releases by number going forward. Starting with Android Q, we won’t have Android Quesito and will instead just have Android 10.

    I don’t have big feelings about that change, because Android 10 is a super clean way to express the 10th version of Android, but also because there weren’t any great Q desserts to choose from and it would have been a more awkward stretch than Nougat was. Maybe this is a maturing of Android or Google or…me.

    I’ve seen others who aren’t as numb to the idea, though. Some believe this is Google taking fun from Android or that it was a little bit of an inside, tech geeky thing we liked to know, try and predict, and keep track of. A few are big mad and believe this has something to do with iOS, because of course some jackhole thinks that.

    Whatever your feelings, desserts are gone for now. Here’s one last look at what Google gave us from Cupcake through Pie.

    Any favorites?

    Cupcake

    Android Cupcake

    Donut

    Android Donut

    Eclair

    Android Eclair

    Froyo

    Android Froyo

    Gingerbread

    Android Gingerbread

    Honeycomb

    Android Honeycomb

    Ice Cream Sandwich

    Ice Cream Sandwich

    Jelly Bean

    Android Jellybean

    KitKat

    Android KitKat

    Lollipop

    Android Lollipop

    Marshmallow

    Android Marshmallow

    Nougat

     Android Nougat

    Oreo

    Android Oreo

    Pie

    Android Pie

  • Android Distribution Updated for October: Where Pie At?

    Android Distribution Updated for October: Where Pie At?

    Android Pie has been available since early August, so that’s meant we have had three separate updates to the Android Distribution numbers since its arrival. In those three, the newest version of Android has failed to make its debut appearance.

    The latest set of platform distribution numbers were posted on Friday and they show little change across the board. Oreo jumped up, while the rest dropped.

    October 2018 Android Distribution

    • Oreo: 21.5% (+2.3%)
    • Nougat: 28.2% (-1.1%)
    • Marshmallow: 21.3% (-0.3%)
    • Lollipop: 17.9% (-0.4%)
    • KitKat: 7.6% (-0.2%)
    • Jelly Bean: 3.0% (-0.2%)
    • Ice Cream Sandwich: 0.3%
    • Gingerbread: 0.2% (-0.1%)

    Why hasn’t Pie showed up yet? Google says that a version needs to make up for 0.1% of the Android pie in order to make an appearance. We’re three months in and can only assume that Pie is still on less than 0.1% of phones if it’s not on these numbers. That’s not great. Project Treble, you there?

    Then again, only a handful of phones have Android Pie to date. Google’s Pixel and Pixel 2 lines, Essential Phone, and OnePlus 6 have all received an official update to Android 9. A Sony phone or two may have it as well, but none of these phones have sold in large volumes. So when you’ve got billions of Android phones in the wild and only a few million running Pie, I guess that may not be 0.1%.

    Last month’s numbers can be seen right here.

    Android Distribution October 2018

    // Android Developers

  • Android Distribution Updated for September: Still No Pie!

    Android Distribution Updated for September: Still No Pie!

    Google last updated the Android distribution numbers at the end of August, the first time since releasing Android Pie. Pie didn’t make the cut then and here we are just wrapping up September and Google is back with another update. Pie still isn’t there, and as you can imagine, the numbers haven’t changed much in general in such a short time.

    Here is a quick breakdown of the September Android distribution numbers:

    • Oreo: 19.2% (+4.6%)
    • Nougat: 29.3% (-1.5%)
    • Marshmallow: 21.6% (-1.1%)
    • Lollipop: 18.3% (-0.9%)
    • KitKat: 7.8% (-0.8%)
    • Jelly Bean: 3.2% (-0.3%)
    • Ice Cream Sandwich: 0.3%
    • Gingerbread: 0.3%

    See, not much of a difference. Oreo certainly picked up some growth, but we really just want to see how Pie is doing with 4 Pixel phones running it, as well as the Essential Phone and OnePlus 6.

    Last month’s numbers can be seen here.

    Android Distribution September 2018

    // Android Distribution

  • Verizon LG V20 Grabs Oreo Update

    Verizon LG V20 Grabs Oreo Update

    After announcing that the LG V20 in Korea was scheduled to get the update to Oreo at the end of August, then pushing it to the AT&T model, LG is now pushing Oreo to Verizon’s variant too.

    The Verizon LG V20 will see software version VS99520a and the August Android security patch.

    The update includes icon masking, to help your home screen look cleaner. You’ve also got app shortcuts, notifications badges, settings reorganization, and other optimizations. It’s a pretty big update, even if it does seem to be months and months late.

    To check for it, head into Settings>System updates. Verizon didn’t offer up an update size, but my guess is that it’s well over 1GB.

    And for those who missed the AT&T V20 Oreo update, you should have received software version H91020g back at the end of August. That update was 1.7GB in size.

    // Verizon

    Cheers R H!

  • Android Distribution Updated for August: No Pie Yet

    Android Distribution Updated for August: No Pie Yet

    Google updated the Android distribution numbers today to show which versions of Android are dominating the landscape as of August 31. We were curious if Android Pie would make its debut this round, but are left disappointed. No Pie here, my friends.

    Instead, we’ve got a boost for Android Oreo to 14.6% (from 12.1%) and Nougat still sitting at 30.8%. Marshmallow dropped to 22.7%, Lollipop down to 19.2%, KitKat to 8.6%, and Jelly Bean to 3.5%. Ice Cream Sandwich remained at 0.3%, while Gingerbread somehow rose from 0.2% to 0.3%.

    You can view last month’s numbers here.

    Android Distribution August 2018

  • Tuesday Poll: Your Phone is at Least Running Oreo by Now, Right?

    Tuesday Poll: Your Phone is at Least Running Oreo by Now, Right?

    We hate that we even have to ask, but to follow up on a poll we ran back in January, where the majority of people said their Android phone still wasn’t running Android 8.0 Oreo, we’re back to see if the update has hit your phone by now.

    It’s August and Android 9.0 Pie has been made official, with Pixel devices already running the update and Essential Phone also receiving it. Naturally, we expect some time to go by before many are running Pie, but to even get excited about 9.0 while others may still be stuck on Nougat is mildly depressing.

    So, has your phone been updated to Oreo by now?

    Your phone has Oreo by now, right?

    View Results

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  • The Never-Ending Story of Android

    The Never-Ending Story of Android

    Think this Tweet and reply sums up a big part of Android’s history pretty nicely.