Android Fragmentation Visualized

Above is just a taste of what Android fragmentation looks like. The chart shows a variety of Android phones, using color coded bars to show whether or not the phone is up to date, 1, 2, or 3 versions behind the current version. You can see that some phones started out one or two generations behind, and were 3 generations behind within a few months of their release. 

The full chart is below, which puts the iPhone on this chart.As you can see, Apple kept the iPhone updated with the latest version for 3 years after release, giving customers plenty of time to upgrade if they chose to. There's no fragmentation on the iOS side of things, as you can see below. 

So, if you want a phone that's going to get updates even 3 years after you bought it, go with an iPhone. Few Android phones are on the latest version of the OS, and most are behind by a few generations. iPhone users, think of it like this, your phone could have been stuck with iOS 2 all this time. That's the version before copy & paste was implemented, and the first version with an App store. It was released over 3 years ago. 

If you prefer words to graphs, Michael Degusta has got you covered:

• 10 of 18 were at least two major versions behind well within their two year contract period.

• 11 of 18 stopped getting any support updates less than a year after release.

• 13 of 18 stopped getting any support updates before they even stopped selling the device or very shortly thereafter.

• 15 of 18 don’t run Gingerbread, which shipped in December 2010.

• In a few weeks, when Ice Cream Sandwich comes out, every device on here will be another major version behind.

• At least 16 of 18 will almost certainly never get Ice Cream Sandwich.

• It only gets worse for people who bought their phone late in its sales period. 

It's shocking to see that most Android phones stop getting updates less than a year after they're released. Also, most are far behind the current version well within the 2 year period between upgrades. Not to mention every Android device on that graph is about to be another version behind. 8 out of 9 will never get the update, even well after the release of the new OS. 

This graph really shows just how bad the fragmentation is on Android. No wonder app developers have a hard time releasing apps for Android, they can't use all the technologies of the latest OS, because most Android users won't get it. If you want a phone that won't be obsolete a few months after you get it, get an iPhone. Honestly, I don't see how Android owners put up with this. My guess is, they're unaware. Ignorance is bliss. 

via BGR