Facebook employees to be forced to use Android (again)

During a recent presentation, chief product officer for Facebook Chris Cox announced that he was “mandating a switch of a whole bunch of my team over to Android, just because people, when left up to their own devices, will often prefer an iPhone.” Despite the claim that people prefer an iPhone, the market is actually dominated by Google’s Android operating system, although pockets like those in Silicon Valley where Facebook operates out of may still lean toward iOS devices.

The move is a practical one for Cox as it will push Facebook developers and employees to experience Facebook in the same manner that most of their customers are experiencing it – on an Android device. Cox said having a good portion of the product team on Android would help ensure “they can be reporting bugs and living in the same experience that most Facebook users experience today.”

Getting Facebook employees to better understand their user base was also the impetus behind a recent initiative call 2G Tuesdays. When Facebook employees report for work on Tuesdays, they find their phones will ask them if they want to experience the world with 2G data speeds. If they agree, they get a taste of 2G for about an hour. This is meant to simulate the data speeds that many users in newer markets have available to them, helping Facebook streamline their app. One of the results of that attention to data speeds was the introduction of changes to the News Feed recently announced by Facebook.

Although Android fans will likely crow about this move by the social media giant, it should be noted that this is not the first time Facebook has mandated that employees will use Android devices.

source: Wired
via: Cult of Android

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