is features writer with five years of experience covering the companies that shape technology and the people who use their tools.
After years of requests from users, Instagram will finally have a dedicated app for iPad. Beginning Wednesday, September 3rd, users will be able to download the new app built specifically for Apple’s tablet. But it will be slightly different than the mobile app users are accustomed to.
Most significantly, the iPad app will open directly to a feed of Reels, the company’s TikTok competitor — perhaps a sign of the short-form-video times. Back in April, reporting indicated that Meta was working on an iPad app for Instagram after years of dragging its feet, in part prompted by the legally and politically iffy spot TikTok found itself in. For years, Instagram for iPad was something to tackle “at some point” — until its biggest competitor was facing what would effectively be a ban in the US. From this perspective, opening the app straight to Reels makes perfect sense.
Other features will be available on iPad: Stories will still line the top of the homepage, and users will be able to switch to a “Following” tab where they’ll be able to swipe between feeds that more resemble the mobile Instagram experience (including a chronological option). The bigger screen means more space and fewer clicks: comments on Reels will appear next to full-size videos, and the DMs page will have your inbox alongside chats, similar to what Messenger looks like on desktop.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri has said in the past that the group of people wanting an iPad app just wasn’t big enough for it to be a top priority. So what’s changed in the last few years? Perhaps the number of kids using tablets has changed the calculus, or TikTok’s regulatory vulnerability bumped this up on the to-do list. One thing that’s obvious from this is that Instagram is not letting up on Reels: it’s extended the length of clips, added the ability to repost and fast-forward them, and earlier this year was trying to recruit popular TikTokers. The company sees a future for Instagram on tablets — and it’s short-form video all the way down.
