In a completely surprising move, Facebook has reportedly instructed their employees to switch to Android phones. The move is said to be in accordance to the strict instruction by Facebook chief product officer Chris Cox. Cox is reported to say that he is mandating his team to switch to using Android phones because according to him, when left to own devices, people often prefer an iPhone.

Cox further states that this new move is in no way discouraging its employees from using Apple's iPhone or promote Google's Android as it may be interpreted. It is just the company's practical decision, based on the fact that in today's market, it is noticeable that a lot of mobile phone users have been noticed to switch to Android.

This move Cox reveals is one way to gain experience or insights on how their site might be experienced by the Android users. By having insight like their 2G Tuesdays, his team will be able to report bugs and further explore what could be done to further better the Facebook experience that Android mobile users can experience.

Though it is revealed that Cox has already instructed his team to switch to Android mobile phones, it is yet to be confirmed whether or not all employees of Facebook will be required to do so. On a side note, an unnamed Facebook employee who doesn't want to be identified has leaked to the IBTimes UK that these new instructions has already been distributed to the Facebook employees in the US.

Earlier in June, Facebook Lite has been released for entry level Android mobile phones. It only requires inferior and a noticeably slower data connection compared to 3G and LTE. This fact alone might be one of the reasons that they want their employees to use Android to be able to provide feedback and insights on product improvement.

Whatever the reasons are, it can be noted that maybe they want to expand the Facebook experience on Android smartphones. Although Apple's iOS has a favorable number of users to counter Google's Android; Android is still indisputably the leading mobile phone platform.