It took 15 years: Instagram has officially announced the launch of a dedicated iPad app, available for download worldwide. Until now, since it entered our lives in 2010, the app only operated on the iPad in its iPhone version, stretched across the larger screen, resulting in a partial and sometimes problematic user experience.
While Apple has consistently encouraged app developers over the years to create a unique interface for its tablet, Instagram lagged behind. Users had to make do with the enlarged iPhone version, with noticeable gaps between the screen display and actual functions. Complaints were often raised about poor image quality when uploading from the iPad, and the screen design remained basic and unadapted. Interestingly, foldable Android devices had already received dedicated Instagram adjustments several years ago, making the experience more convenient than on the iPad.
The new app, which runs on iPadOS 15.1 and later, offers not only full-screen adaptation but also structural and usage upgrades. Upon opening the app, users are greeted with Reels videos—a central tool that has gained enormous popularity in recent years as Instagram’s response to the rise of TikTok. Above them remains the familiar Stories module, while the icon bar is located on the left side, allowing quick access to various tabs.
One of the prominent additions is a new Following tab, allowing users to choose between three screens: All, displaying all posts and videos from the accounts you follow; Friends, showing content from accounts with mutual following; and Latest, enabling users for the first time in almost a decade to view a reverse chronological feed—from newest posts to oldest. This marks a return to Instagram’s original format, which was abandoned in 2016 in favor of an algorithm-based sorting system.
The innovations don’t stop at the feed design: The messaging system now features a two-panel display, with the conversation list on the left and the active message window on the right. This allows users to manage a conversation without leaving the contact list. Reels comments also open on the side of the screen, no longer blocking the video itself, making full use of the iPad’s larger display.
Instagram notes that fewer taps are required to access most tools, streamlining the overall experience. Users will receive an app that feels more natural for the tablet, with a clean design and wide screens.
Behind the scenes, the app launch represents a correction of a long-standing oversight. Instagram’s manager, Adam Mosseri, repeatedly cited a “lack of resources” over the years as the reason for not developing an iPad version, even though it is part of Meta, a company with billions of dollars in the bank. Only recently did the company complete the launch of WhatsApp for iPad, more than a year after it was promised.