Facebook's fast-loading Instant Articles are going live across all Android phones worldwide today following a public test phase that began in October. Instant Articles was first trialled on the company's iPhone app and has been available to 100% of iPhone users since October.

Instant Articles load 10 times faster than standard articles and are more likely to be shared, according to Facebook. The product's entry into the Android market is significant, putting Instant Articles in the hands of millions of people who use the leading mobile operating system on the planet.

"This program is now on Android which really just completes the major mobile platforms that publishers want to reach around the world," Facebook Instant Articles product manager Michael Reckhow told BuzzFeed News in an interview. "With this scale, it's going to be really exciting to see the engagement that publishers are getting."

Facebook introduced Instant Articles with the hope of improving the experience of people using its app, who often had to wait a number seconds before an article they clicked on loaded in a normal web browser.