Android Fragmentation

When I talk to Android developers and tell them that TestFairy started to help fight Android Fragmentation, they usually tell me about the devices in their lab. Some have 10 devices, some have 20. If it’s a big company they may have 30, never met a developer that has more than that.  The usual reaction is “With the devices we have in our lab we cover 85% of the market, this is enough”.
Well, it is not.
OpenSignal has just released a new report showing 11,868 Distinct Android devices using their app.
android-fragmantation
Besides the beautiful visual effects showing the difference between last year and this year’s stats, this report has some answers regarding how many devices you actually need in order to cover the Android market.
So the answer is:
In order to cover 25% of the Android market you will need 12 devices!
In order to cover 50% of the Android market you will need 60 devices!!
In order to cover 75% of the Android market you will need 217 devices!!!
And (back to square one) in order to cover 87.5% of the Android market you will need 427 devices!!! That’s all.
Now all you need to do is buy 427 and hire the people that will actually operate these devices and make those tests happen…
Or wait a minute, maybe use the crowd and do it with TestFairy? 🙂