Instagram launches its first iPad app
After more than a decade of requests, Instagram has finally launched an official iPad app, giving users a proper large-screen experience instead of relying on the iPhone app or the web version.
A Big-Screen Experience
The new iPad app opens directly to the Reels screen, letting users scroll through short videos on a larger display. Most of the familiar Instagram features are included:
- Stories sit at the top of the app.
- A sidebar on the left provides quick access to your following feed, DMs, Search, Explore, and notifications.
- Feeds come in three modes — All (recommended posts and Reels), Friends (from mutual connections), and Latest (chronological order) — which can be reordered based on preference.
The design has been reworked for iPad. For example, when watching a Reel, comments appear alongside the video, and in the messages tab, you can browse chats on the left while viewing an active conversation on the right.
Why It Took So Long
Instagram, now nearly 15 years old, had long resisted building an iPad app. Head Adam Mosseri repeatedly said there was “no hurry” to prioritize the tablet experience. That left room for third-party apps like Retro to fill the gap. Earlier this year, reports surfaced that the company was finally working on an iPad version, and today’s launch confirms it.
Availability
The new Instagram app is rolling out for all iPads running iOS 15.1 or later, giving millions of tablet users a long-awaited native experience.
With the launch, Instagram is signaling that it’s ready to take tablet engagement seriously — offering a smoother, more versatile interface for content consumption, messaging, and short-form video.
