Jelly Bean overtakes ICS as second most popular Android

Android Jelly Bean has overtaken Ice Cream Sandwich as the second most popular version of Google's mobile operating system -- but the ancient Gingerbread is still way out in front.

New figures from Google's Android developer site show Jelly Bean on 28.4 per cent of devices, split between 26.1 per cent on 4.1 and 2.3 per cent on 4.2. Ice Cream Sandwich phones make up 27.5 per cent of the green army.

Gingerbread, which was first released in December 2010, continues to power a huge number of low-spec and ageing devices -- 38.5 per cent of the total. They will likely never be upgraded because they're too underpowered to run a more recent version at a usable speed. Gingerbread's current share will slowly dwindle as people stop using those phones and upgrade.

Older versions of the alphabetically named treats -- Donut, Eclair and Froyo -- make up just 5.5 per cent of the market now.

Jelly Bean jumped in market share last month, from 16 to 25 per cent, because Google changed the way it recorded the data. Previously it had counted any interaction with its servers -- checking email, for example -- as a device being active. From April, it only counts if you access Google Play, its app store, which is a more important stat for developers.

The next full version will be Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie, which we're hoping to see at Google's I/O conference later this month. Rumours are swirling, however, that the Big G will merely deliver a minor boost to 4.3 Jelly Bean.

Which version of Android are you on? Do you despair of ever seeing an update? What would you like to see in Key Lime Pie? Update your thoughts in the comments below, or on our delicious Facebook page.