Newer versions of Google, Inc.’s Android smartphone operating system are finally coming to the fore, including its latest 6.0 Marshmallow version finally hitting double figures, according to new figures published by the search giant.

According to the Google Platform Versions page, which collected the numbers by counting any Android device that accessed the Google Play Store during a seven-day period that ended on June 6, 10.1 percent of active Android devices are now using Marshmallow, up from only 2.3 percent in March this year.

Android 5.0 and 5.1 KitKat hit a combined share of 35.4 percent, up 1.1 percent over the March figure.

Older versions of the operating system are still, unsurprisingly, being widely used, with Android Jelly Bean (4.1/4.2/4.3), released between July 2012 and July 2013, retaining a still significant market share of 18.9 percent (down from 22.3 percent in March) while older versions continue to decline more rapidly with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich having a 1.9 percent share (down from 2.3 percent,) Android Gingerbread 2 percent (down from 2.6 percent) and Android 2.2 Froyo still remarkably being used by 0.1 percent of active devices.

Venturebeat points out, as always, that the numbers exclude older devices as only those using Android 2.2 or later are able to access the Google Play Store, as well as excluding customized devices such as the Amazon Fire due to the fact that they don’t ship with, or support Google Play either.

Improving

While Google still has a distribution problem when it comes to having Android users being able to access new versions of the operating system, the strong growth in Marshmallow users will no doubt have caused some cheer in Mountain View.

The figures themselves don’t specify which devices are driving Marshmallow’s growth but it wouldn’t be a stretch to correlate the ongoing massive success of Samsung Electronic Co. Ltd.’s Galaxy S7 range in being a primary driver of Marshmallow usage.

Even if the figures are starting to look better, Google still needs to start wielding a stick at recalcitrant manufacturers who are not offering Android updates for users of older devices, something Google was reported to be considering in May; it’s still yet to be seen whether Google intends to name and shame manufacturers but the need to do so is still most definitely there.

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