The latest Android Distribution numbers are out and not much has changed. Timely updates, or updates at all for that matter, continue to be a thorn in Android’s side. No matter who we point fingers at, the fact remains, not enough devices are running the most current version of Android. In fact, more than 50% of Android devices accessing the Google Play store are still running Gingerbread — an almost 2-year old version of Android.

At the same time, I guess we should be happy to know that Android devices have a long shelf life — I mean, seriously, Cupcake is still kickin’ it! Still, Ice Cream Sandwich is already over a year old and yet only present on 25.8% of device. That’s just ridiculous.

What about Android’s latest and greatest OS Jelly Bean? Well, in the almost 4 months it’s been around, it’s managed to populate 2.7% of all Android devices accessing the Play store. Yea, I’d say that’s a sad state of affairs for sure.

I fear this situation isn’t going to get any better in the future. Google has essentially left users to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, the only way to ensure you’re up-to-date with Android is to either buy Nexus or root. And now, users looking to go the Nexus route are being forced to sacrifice features such as storage, LTE, and carrier choice, simply to get the latest version of Android. Not cool.

• SourceAndroid Developer