And this is the fundamental reason why iPhone trounces Android phones.

These statistics may not interest the average person, but they are crucial for developers and product owners of these platforms. These charts dictate which features can be implemented without alienating a significant portion of users. For instance, if a feature is only available on iOS 16, then anyone with an earlier version will not have access to it. While minor features can be bypassed programmatically, major ones like navigation cannot.

Fortunately, the iOS chart shows that only 5.3% of users are not on the latest major version, meaning developers can confidently implement any new features. This translates to you, the user, getting all the cool new features.

However, the Android chart paints a different picture. Only 20% of users are on the latest version, leaving developers with a difficult decision. Even going back three revisions only covers about 60% of users, leaving 40% unsupported. As a result, most Android developers play it safe by dropping back to v9, even though we are now on v13.

What does this mean? It means that regardless of how amazing Samsung or Google's new phone may be, most programmers are still developing apps as if it were 2018 (when v9 was released). In contrast, iPhone developers can confidently move forward with the latest and greatest features.