While iOS 10 powers 79 percent of iPhones and iPads, Nougat only runs on 4.9 percent of Android devices

The Android landscape is changing, albeit at a really, really slow pace. That explains why, in early-April, Google reports that Nougat is found on 4.9 percent of Android devices, while the older Marshmallow powers nearly a third -- 31.2 percent -- of the smartphones and tablets that run the most-popular mobile operating system.

Things couldn't be more different if we look at the iOS space, where iOS 10 currently holds a 79 percent share. Meanwhile, its predecessor, iOS 9, can be found on just 16 percent of the iPhones, iPads and iPod touch devices in use. Google released Nougat in mid-August, last year, while Apple introduced iOS 10 the following month, in September.

Apple's figures are not exactly up to date, so things are likely to have changed a bit in iOS 10's favor since the last time the distribution numbers were posted, which was on February 20. Google updates its distribution figures at the beginning of every month.

Nougat's 4.9 percent share represents a combined figure for versions 7.0 (4.5 percent) and 7.1 (0.4 percent). Most Nougat devices run Android 7.0, with only a handful of smartphones and tablets having received Android 7.1 so far.

Android Nougat is expected to receive a boost starting this month, when both LG and Samsung will have their latest flagships hitting store shelves. LG announced the global roll out for the G6 yesterday, while Samsung will introduce the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ later this month.

If we look at older distributions, Google reports that Android 5.0 and 5.1, codenamed Lollipop, has a share of 31 percent, followed by Android 4.4 KitKat with 20 percent. The Jelly Bean family is at 10.1 percent, Ice Cream Sandwich is at 0.9 percent and Gingerbread, the oldest in the bunch, has 0.9 percent as well.

On the iOS side of things, Apple puts every other iOS release in the "earlier" category, which holds five percent share. Quite a big difference in terms of release dynamics, as you can see.

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