Starting Up

Here’s an awesome post by opensignalmaps on their experience as developers with Android fragmentation: http://opensignalmaps.com/reports/fragmentation.php.

The takeaway image is probably this one:

Click to expand

This depicts all of the android devices that have downloaded the opensignalmaps app out of a sample size of 681,900, and that’s a lot of data.

What’s great about this diagram is how well it drives home the reality that Android fragmentation exists.

Surprisingly, the author has a hopeful takeaway:

Developers tend to bemoan Android fragmentation yet there’s much here to be celebrated.

We’ve collected signal data from 195 countries – the variety of Android devices and manufacturers has been crucial in allowing the OS to reach so many markets. For example the 5 countries where OSM gets most use are: US, Brazil, China, Russia, Mexico. From what we’re seeing the developing world is no longer developing but leading Europe.

I, for one, welcome our new Android [optimists].