Facebook reportedly is encouraging its employees to switch from Apple‘s iPhones to devices running Google‘s Android operating system.
In the past, Facebook gave employees iPhones; however, according to Tech Crunch, the push is on to get them to begin using Droid-based phones; FB also is encouraging workers to begin looking for issues with Facebook apps for the Android OS.
The Android Facebook app has floundered as a hybrid HTML5/native app for months, periodically adding features to the camera or chat portions but rendering the main timeline in a web view.
This issue is not unique to Facebook. Despite its huge market presence, most app developers choose to cater to iOS version before Android. While we’re at a point where we can count on an Android version to be released, it often comes weeks or months after the iPhone or iPad.
Facebook, by asking its engineers to “dogfood” its Android app by switching to the platform, may be the first of many companies seeking to change the perspective of Android as an also-ran OS for developers. Some dev houses see Android as a necessary evil, and prefer to develop for iOS. This runs counter to the sheer numbers of devices sold, but it also speaks to the financial incentive of building an app for Apple’s platform.
Over the coming months, as Android 4.0+ devices broach the majority of overall share, we can hope to see more Holo-based Android apps with excellent performance and great feature sets. Now if only Google could ensure developers make enough money to continue building great paid Android apps, we’d be set.
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