Following years of user requests for functionality for devices with larger displays, Instagram is reportedly developing a dedicated iPad app. The platform was introduced 15 years prior to this advancement. The picture and video sharing website owned by Meta has not yet disclosed any intentions to release an iPad app. Currently, Instagram users may view the Instagram website using a browser such as Safari or utilize a zoomed-in, centre-aligned version of the Instagram app for iPhone on Apple tablets.
Instagram is reportedly developing an iPad-compatible version of its app, according to The Information (via 9to5Mac) after 15 years. The move by the platform to create a specific iPad app might “further drive usage of Instagram,” a current employee told the magazine.
According to the article, there might have been two reasons for the decision to develop an iPad software just for Instagram. Under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, TikTok, Instagram’s main rival, might be banned in the US.
“The company may have been inspired to develop an iPad app by the recent tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on a number of nations, including India,” the article said. If the report’s assertions are true, Instagram is finally working on an iPad app, almost fifteen years after the platform’s 2010 launch.
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri has downplayed the need for a separate Instagram app for iPad for the past few years. When YouTuber Marques Brownlee (@mkbhd) posted in X (previously Twitter) in 2022, Mosseri replied that an iPad app was “still just not a big enough group of people to be a priority.”
The Instagram app for iPhone may presently be downloaded on an iPad, however it takes up the centre of the screen. It is a zoomed-in version of the program, which is made to function on a much smaller screen, but it may be enlarged to fit the screen. The extra screen space provided by the iPad might be utilized by an iPad app.
It’s important to keep in mind that creating an Instagram app for the iPad could take a long time. With no indication of when it would be released, WhatsApp, another Meta-owned service, has already been testing an iPad version of the messaging software for several months.
In an effort to take advantage of TikTok’s ongoing unpredictability, the study outlines further strategies Meta is doing to increase Instagram usage.
Over the years, Instagram has offered a number of justifications for why it has never developed an iPad app. An iPad app “would be nice to do,” but it wasn’t a priority since “there’s a lot to do and only so many people,” according to Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri in 2021. Mosseri stepped up the next year and stated and simply said, there are still too many persons in this category to be given priority. We’re pretty focused on other things right now, but we hope to get to it eventually. These I refer to as “finally features.” Features like an iPad app, scheduled postings, dark mode support, the ability to remove a single image from a carousel, etc.
Additionally, keep in mind that Meta committed to releasing an iPad app for WhatsApp in 2023. The app is still not available.
It will be a respectable experience to use the Instagram app in Stage Manager on compatible iPads, and the web app has gotten better recently. However, it’s long overdue for a native version that really utilizes the huge display.
A request for comment from Meta was not immediately answered.