Google now has 2.5 billion active Android users

Google, at the I/O developer conference, recently announced that it has now 2.5 billion active Android devices– making it the largest operating system by user numbers.

In 2017, Google revealed that Android had 2 billion active users, one billion more than the statistics Google updated in 2014. It means Google has gained 1.5 billion more Android users in the past four years.

In January, Apple said that its active installed based of iPhones exceeded 900 million, while it had 1.4 billion users across all products, including macOS and iOS devices.  Apple’s overall figure hasn’t changed much since then, with CEO Tim Cook this month stating that in Q3 2019 its active installed base was over 1.4 billion.

Meanwhile, Microsoft in October claimed to currently have 1.5 billion active Windows devices and in March revealed it had 800 million devices on Windows 10.

According to Google, many of these 2.5 billion Android devices — made by over 180 manufacturers — are running older versions of Google’s mobile OS. A study in 2017 estimated that more than one billion Android devices were more than two years out of date.

Google for some reason had stopped publishing its Android distribution numbers and hadn’t updated its chart for six months.

According to the new Google update, Android 9.0 Pie, the newest version of the OS, is now running 10.4 percent of devices that connect to the Google Play Store. Added together, Android 8.0 and 8.1 Oreo is the most widely used version, accounting for 28 percent of all Android devices.

Google also announced the Android Q Beta 3 and highlighted a nifty accessibility feature for deaf Android users by way of live captions for all apps with videos, podcasts and audio messages.

With a single tap, Live Caption will automatically caption media that’s playing audio on your phone.

Live Caption works with videos, podcasts and audio messages, across any app — even stuff you record yourself. As soon as speech is detected, captions will appear, without ever needing WiFi or cell phone data, and without any audio or captions leaving your phone. AGENCIES