GMA News' Facebook Instant Articles now available on Android

After initially unveiling its Instant Articles feature to Apple iOS, Facebook announced Wednesday that its quick news feature is now finally available for Android users.

The much-anticipated move finally brings GMA News' and other Facebook partners' content to a much wider Filipino audience.

According to independent metrics from StatCounter, Android is the dominant mobile OS in the Philippines, with a 63% local market share as of November versus iOS' 29%.

^{_{Source: StatCounter Global Stats - OS Market Share}}

Since December 3, GMA News has been one of a select few news outlets around the world utilizing the new platform, including The New York Times, National Geographic, The Huffington Post, The Daily Mail, The Guardian, BuzzFeed, and MTV.

"Instant Articles is the perfect opportunity for GMA News to engage more people with fresh content—we are going where they are, reaching them where they feel comfortable, and catching them where they spend much if not most of their online time," said GMA News Online publisher Sheila Paras.

Out of beta

After several weeks of focus-group testing, Facebook has brought Instant Articles for Android out of beta.

"Publishers can now deliver fast and immersive reading experiences to hundreds of millions of people daily across the two most popular mobile platforms in the world," product manager Michael Reckhow wrote in a blog post.

Instant Articles was launched last October, but was initially available only to Apple devices. The program connects readers to the stories faster than the standard web articles, allowing them easier access to articles shared on their News Feed.

Reckhow revealed that their beta testing on Android and their observations on iPhone revealed that the "faster, richer reading experience inspires people on Android to share Instant Articles with their friends more often than they do with standard web articles."

More than 350 publications around the world have already joined the initiative and more are joining each day, Reckhow said. — Jessica Bartolome/TJD, GMA News