GOOGLE has unveiled updated Android version distribution metrics, showing that as of December 1, 2025, the adoption rate of Android 16 stands at 7.5% among global active devices. Although these statistics were disseminated in late January 2026, the sampling ends in early December of the previous year, with current figures likely slightly elevated after the year‑end holiday surge and early 2026 hardware releases.
Android 15 remains the most widely used at 19.3%, followed by Android 14 at 17.2% and Android 13 at 13.9%, while Android 16 sits seventh in the rankings. The article notes that a large proportion of devices—particularly entry‑level and legacy models—still run OS versions released three or more years ago.
It also explains that, despite Android 16’s accelerated debut to align with the Pixel flagship launch, many manufacturers have not markedly sped up their update momentum, although Project Mainline is decoupling core services from the OS to receive updates via the Google Play Store. according to 9to5google