Facebook trying to get staff to switch from iPhone to Android

Facebook is going to great lengths to encourage its staff to switch from the iPhone to Android.

The plan is to help the teams at Facebook develop a better Android app, according to reports. There are fears that, with the growth of the Android platform, a bias towards the iPhone could lead Facebook to become detached from the majority of its mobile users.

Smartphone and tablet buyers snapped up Android products five times more often than they chose Apple iOS devices during the third quarter, according to a new study from Gartner.

TechCrunch claims that Facebook has plastered posters around its headquarters encouraging employees to "switch today" and eat their own "droidfood" which in Facebook-speak means 'use your own product'.

Facebook spokesperson confirmed told that site that there are "more iPhones deployed" at Facebook than Android smartphones, although they admitted that "plenty of people here carrying around both devices, and not just engineers and not just mobile people".

As TechCrunch suggests, this indicates that iPhone users aren't going to give their device up without a fight.

Facebook employees test the latest betas of the app and when they find a bug a violent shake of the phone sends information to the engineers working on the next version of the Facebook app.