Instagram Finally Gets a Native iPad App

It finally happened: Instagram is now available as a native iPad, fifteen years after Apple released its first tablet. The new iPad app follows the recent release of a native WhatsApp client, a sign that Meta is finally starting to take tablets seriously after competitors like TikTok and Snapchat released native iPad apps years ago.

“With Instagram for iPad, we’ve redesigned the experience to reflect how people use bigger screens today – for lean back entertainment,” the Instagram team said today. “Now, when you open the app, you’ll drop into Reels, so you can get the entertaining content you love on a bigger screen. You’ll also see Stories at the top, so you can easily connect with the people that matter to you, and messaging is one tap away.”

While Instagram on the iPad will show Reels videos by default, the app also offers a Following tab with an algorithmic “All” Feed, a “Friends” feed with recommended posts and reels from users’ social graph, and a chronological “Latest” feed. These three feeds can also be reordered manually.

Instagram on the iPad requires iPadOS 15.1 and later, and the optimized tablet layout that’s making its debut on the iPad today is coming soon to Android tablets, the team said today.