15 Years Later, Instagram is Finally Coming to iPad

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Key Takeaways:

Instagram Launches Dedicated iPad App: After years of requests, Instagram finally introduced an official app for iPad, shifting from using the iPhone app or web version.
Video-First Experience on iPad: The app opens directly into Reels, emphasizing a video-centered experience designed for relaxing viewing, with Stories and messaging easily accessible.
New Following Tab and Customizable Feeds: A new Following tab offers three view options—All, Friends, and Latest—and allows users to prioritize their favorite feeds.
Enhanced Use of iPad Screen Size: The iPad app takes advantage of the larger screen by displaying comments alongside videos and allowing multi-column views for chats and notifications.
Meta’s Strategic Shift to Focus on Reels and iPad Compatibility: Meta added the iPad app as TikTok’s full-screen video success influenced Instagram’s focus on Reels, with the app now available on devices running iPadOS 15.1 or later.

After more than a decade of requests, Instagram has finally launched a dedicated app for the iPad. For years, users were stuck with a stretched‑out iPhone app or the web version. Now, a proper iPadOS app is rolling out, but it’s not quite what many expected.

What the Instagram iPad App Actually Offers

When you open Instagram on iPsad, you don’t land on your photo feed; you land straight on Reels. Meta clearly wants the tablet version to feel like a video‑first experience built for sitting back and watching. Stories are still pinned at the top, and messaging is only a tap away, so the essentials are right there too.

A new Following tab adds more control over what you see. You can switch between three views:

All: Recommended posts and Reels from accounts you follow.
Friends: Posts and Reels from accounts you follow that also follow you back.
Latest: A chronological feed from people you follow.

You can even change the order of these feeds to keep your favorites at the top.

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The iPad app also takes advantage of the bigger screen in ways the iPhone app can’t. While watching a Reel, comments show up on the side without shrinking the video. In the DMs tab, your inbox stays visible on the left while you read a chat on the right, much like Messenger on desktop. Notifications and messages use a multi‑column view too, so everything takes fewer taps to get to.

Why Instagram Finally Moved

For years, Instagram head Adam Mosseri dismissed the idea of an iPad app, saying the audience wasn’t big enough. But things shifted. TikTok took over tablets with its full‑screen video experience, and Instagram couldn’t ignore that anymore. Earlier this year, The Information reported that Meta was finally working on an iPad app, and now it’s live.

This timing also highlights how much Meta is betting on Reels. Short‑form video now makes up about half of all time spent on Instagram, and the iPad’s bigger display is the perfect way to keep that momentum going.

Instagram for iPad is available on all devices running iPadOS 15.1 or later. It arrives shortly after WhatsApp made its own iPad debut, marking another big Meta app expansion.

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