LONDON: Android 5.0 Lollipop has had its troubles. First, it stumbled out of the gate. It was briefly available over-the-air (OTA) for Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7 (both first and second generation), and Nexus 10 in early November, but then Google pulled the upgrade for two weeks. Today, almost two months after the re-release on Google Nexus 5, 10, and Nexus 7 Wi-Fi devices, as well as Moto X and G phones, Lollipop still has only a handful of users, never mind a mass audience.
No, you’re not mis-reading the graphic. Six weeks after Android 5.0.x Lollipop was released, almost no one is running it. According to Google’s latest Google Play Store results for early January 2015, less than 0.1 percent of all Android devices were using Lollipop. Ouch! By comparison, the last major Android release 4.4, KitKat, reached 1.1 percent of its audience in its first month out.
In January 2015, almost two months in for Lollipop, KitKat is still number one with 39.1 percent of the market. It’s followed by the various Jelly Bean versions, 4.1.x with 19.2 percent; 4.2.x with 20.3 percent, and 4.3 with 6.5 percent. Trailing them is Ice Cream Sandwich, 4.03-04 with 7.8 percent, followed by antique Froyo, 2.2, with 0.4 percent.
So, what’s happening to Lollipop? That’s a good question, but you don’t have to look too far to find reasons why Lollipop wasn’t greeted with open arms. First, some users, who would prove to be mostly Nexus 7 2012 tablet users, had horrible performance problems with Lollipop. This wasn’t fixed until the release of Android 5.0.2 in late December.
Other Nexus device users also had some troubles, albeit not as great as the Nexus 7 2012 users. These troubles were addressed with the Android 5.01 release, which came out in early-December for most Nexus models and in mid-December for the Nexus 5
All these problems made many Android users wary of Lollipop.
Still some users, including your writer, has found Lollipop to be an excellent release. In addition, CyanogenMod has started releasing Lollipop beta releases for dozens of Android handsets.
That’s all well and good, but it’s not enough to reassure most users. After a really rough start, Lollipop has failed to take off. By this time next month it may be a different story, but for now Lollipop is still the Android that only early adopters can love. Mass-acceptance is clearly going to take much longer for Lollipop than it did for KitKat back in its day.
