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What Happened, Android? The Top 7 Best-selling Smartphones Last Year Were All IPhones

Robert Triggs / Android Authority

TL;DR

A report from Counterpoint featuring data for December 2023 and all of 2023 showcases how Apple dominated the sales chart globally, with most of the top slots going to iPhones.

Samsung phones break into the list, but only with budget models.

Android flagships like the Galaxy S23 series did not create comparable market momentum to feature as best-selling smartphones.

We love our Android flagships, and in many ways, they are better than Apple's flagship iPhone. However, consumers around the world do not necessarily agree. Consumers have overwhelmingly chosen iPhones when it comes to voting with their wallets, as seven of the top 10 best smartphones globally were all iPhones.

According to Counterpoint's latest report, the top seven best sellers in 2023 were all iPhones, primarily spread across the iPhone 14 series and iPhone 15 series, with the iPhone 13 also scoring a seat. The top 10 smartphones in all of 2023 captured a combined market share of 20%, up from 19% in 2022.

The iPhone 14 was the best-selling smartphone of 2023. It managed to capture 19% of total iPhone sales in 2023, which the report notes isn't as impressive as 2022's bestseller iPhone 13's erstwhile 28% share. Apple's total sales remained flat in 2023, which is positive when you consider that sales of major Android competitors declined. The iPhone 15 series took the top three spots for Q4 2023, so there's a chance we see them extending their good run even into 2024.

If you were looking for Android phones in the list, you will only find budget Android smartphones, and that too, only from Samsung. The Galaxy A14 5G, Galaxy A04e, and Galaxy A14 4G occupied the bottom three spots in the top 10 list for December 2023.

Earlier in the month, a report from Canalys also put together a similar yearly trend in an infographic.

Even through a different analyst source, the top five smartphones globally were iPhones. Samsung's presence was limited to three of the bottom five spots, though this report does assign good success to the mid-range Galaxy A54 5G. Android flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S23 series are nowhere to be found on the bestsellers list, and that's not good.

For 2024, we can expect Apple's momentum to continue for the beginning of the year, at least, since the iPhone 15 series sits solidly as a good iPhone to upgrade to. Chinese brands could also enter the list with newer launches at the beginning of the year. Still, we'd love to see more Android phones sold worldwide throughout the year, which is supremely important for the longer-term health of the Android platform and the broader smartphone ecosystem.

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Polar ID Is The Face ID Rival For Android Phones, And Could Even Beat Apple

A little more than six years ago, Apple unveiled Face ID. It was a new method to biometrically unlock iPhones and authenticate purchases by scanning your face. Yet after all this time, there still hasn't been a meaningful competitor on Android—at least, not with the same level of security and capabilities.

Google's Pixel 8 has Face Unlock, but it has trouble working in the dark; the Face Unlock available on Samsung smartphones can't be used for secure applications, such as banking. In Androidland, the fingerprint scanner is king, but that might not be the case for long.

Metalenz, a startup pioneering optics technology called "optical metasurfaces," is hard at work on introducing secure face authentication to Android with its Polar ID technology. Late last year, it announced a partnership with Qualcomm to port its ongoing development to the chipmaker's flagship processor. Today, at Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona, it announced that it will be using Samsung's Isocell Vizion 931 image sensor to power its imaging system.

I visited Metalenz's headquarters in Boston to get a first look at Polar ID. The system is still in its early stages, and the company is currently gathering large amounts of data to improve its facial recognition machine learning algorithms. But it has plans to send development kits to smartphone manufacturers in the middle of this year for testing, which means there's a good chance we'll see a Face ID–like system for Android, one that's potentially better than Apple's approach, inside smartphones by early 2026.

New Optics

Metalenz is a startup born out of a research group at Harvard University and was founded by CEO Robert Devlin and physicist Federico Capasso. I've been covering its development ever since the company emerged from stealth mode in 2021. That's when it unveiled its metasurfaces technology—a flat-lens system that takes up far less space than the traditional multi-lens elements used in most smartphones today.

The iPhone 14 Pro, for example, has seven lens elements (layers of glass or plexiglass) stacked above the camera sensor. Having multiple lens elements improves image clarity, captures more light, and corrects issues such as chromatic aberration (where colors are visible on the fringes of images). But it also adds more complexity and requires more space in the smartphone. Metalenz's metasurfaces is a single lens that uses nanostructures to bend light rays toward the camera sensor, performing the job of multiple lens elements in a much smaller package.

A wafer of multiple metasurfaces, the flat-lens system takes up far less space than multi-lens elements used in most phones currently.

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Android Auto Beta Updates: 5 Things All Users Must Know

Android Auto has become a must-have feature for many Android users, with Google's numbers showing that its adoption keeps rising.

15 photos

Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution

Android Auto is already available in over 200 million cars, and the chances are that more vehicles will receive the phone projection system, especially because not all carmakers embark on GM's controversial trend.

While Android Auto is a great concept, many long-time users found out the hard way that things don't always work as expected. It's why power users can help Google improve the overall stability and reliability of the app, and starting in 2022, anyone can contribute with feedback easily.

The Android Auto beta program allows users to download and install pre-release builds, getting access to new features and improvements in exchange for feedback. It's a win-win process that works great, so it's no surprise that more users are interested in the beta.

If you, too, want to install pre-release builds, here are the five most important tidbits you must keep in mind before rushing to the beta program page.

Google wants your feedback.

Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution

Your main role in the Android Auto beta program is to test-drive every new build and send feedback to Google.

As I said, the program's purpose is to allow you to take new features for a spin in exchange for feedback. Google uses your feedback to refine new Android Auto builds before they get the go-ahead for the production channels.

It means users test-driving Android Auto beta builds help make the app more stable and reliable before everybody else gets it. As we all learned the hard way, this doesn't always work as expected, as stable builds still need further polishing, but the beta program can help Google iron out the most concerning issues.

Increased likelihood of bugs.

Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution

While Android Auto beta builds provide you with access to the latest features (unless they are enabled with a server-controlled rollout) – and this is the top reason why many users want to install them, it's important to remember that all these updates are pre-release software.

Because they carry the beta flag, these builds come with an increased likelihood of problems, so don't be surprised if something doesn't work as planned.

If you spot a feature that doesn't work as expected, your mission is to report it to Google with as many details as you can provide. The Android Auto team will use your information to resolve the glitch before the next stable update receives the green light.

Don't use it as your daily driver.

Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution

This takes us to the next point. Android Auto beta builds can be buggy (though many of us know that this is also valid in the case of stable releases), so you shouldn't use them as your daily driver.

Due to the increased likelihood of bugs, you can end up unable to run Android Auto in those moments when you need it the most.

For example, if a bug breaks down Google Maps on Android Auto, you won't be able to use navigation behind the wheel until Google ships a fix (or you find a workaround). As a result, if you use Android Auto daily for your job or daily commute, you should stick with stable builds.

You can't install beta and stable builds side by side.

Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution

Google doesn't allow users to install Android Auto beta builds alongside stable releases. It means you must choose one way or the other, so if you pick the beta builds, you won't receive stable builds on your device.

The transition from beta to stable is easy. All you need to do is remove the beta version of Android Auto and leave the testing program.

You can always return to the beta program in the future by enrolling in the program or downloading the APK installers, albeit you'll have to manually install each release.

How to download Android Auto beta builds.

Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution

The easiest way to get beta builds of Android Auto on your device is to enroll in the testing program.

Once you're accepted, every new beta build is automatically shipped to your device through the Google Play Store. The release system works like in the case of stable versions, and if you enable automatic updates, you get the new beta builds once Google ships them.

However, if you don't want to enroll in the program but only install a specific build, you can sideload the beta release on your device using the stand-alone APK installer. You'll need to enable special permissions on your smartphone, as Android is enabled by default to only allow apps from the Google Play Store.

If you choose this method, you won't automatically receive further Android Auto beta updates. Enrolling in the beta program is the only way to get new versions when they are released is from the Google Play Store. Like the automatic updates, the sideloaded builds come with the same features and potential bugs.

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