It may have taken years of begging and workarounds, but Instagram has finally come to the iPad. The new app is a native, video-first experience that launches directly to Reels while adapting Instagram’s core features for the tablet’s bigger screen.
A Video-First Interface Designed for Tablets
On the iPad, the app gives Reels pride of place, opening with an immediate full-bleed feed that takes advantage of the larger display. Stories are at the top of the interface like on iPhone, and messaging is baked in, so there’s less app-switching between watching, posting and chatting.
A redesigned Following tab debuts three prominent filters. “All” combines suggested content with posts and reels from accounts you follow. “Friends” tightens the view even more to recommendations from accounts you follow and that also follow you back. And “Latest” brings back chronological order, enabling you to scroll through recent posts and reels from accounts you’re following with no algorithmically determined reshuffling.
Layouts have been optimized to require fewer taps and more context. You can see messages and notifications alongside — and Instagram says you’ll spend less time hopping between the two. Comments can blow up while watching a reel, without deflating the footage, so as to maintain the kind of immersion that lets the originals get instant responses and moderation.
A Long-Interfered-With, Tactically Timed Move
The lack of an iPad app for Instagram for years had become one of the tech industry’s longest-running jokes. Company leaders, including the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, had previously made the point that an iPad app wasn’t all that important compared with features that work on phones. User demand and a broader strategic pivot now push the pendulum the other way: Engagement with Reels keeps rising, and a bigger screen offers a stickier, lean-back video experience.
Industry analysts have long pointed out the iPad’s outsize presence in the tablet market: Research firms have consistently reported that Apple’s lineup is the category leader by shipments. On Instagram’s end of the equation, serving up to audiences where they are already streaming long sessions (on the couch, in landscape, often near a keyboard) jibes with Meta’s stumping on earnings calls that video discovery and AI-driven recommendations are leading to meaningful time spent and monetization gains.
The timing also coincides with shifting creator workflows. A lot of creators also storyboard, edit or rough-cut on tablets with such tools as CapCut, LumaFusion or Final Cut Pro for iPad. The last mile is the native Instagram app: viewing on a bigger screen, managing the comments while staying in the reel, keeping an eye on DMs and notifications in a split view.
What It Means for Users and Creators
For every day users, the iPad app lets you catch up in a less cramped manner. The chronological “Latest” filter gives the expected scroll, while “Friends” view is meant to help surface stories from people you actually follow, so you can read those tiny letters and share some thoughts yourself:”).
For creators and brands, it matters that Oakley’s dual-pane community layouts. Reviewing comments on a post while the reel is full screen can keep engagement flowing without disrupting playback. When you’re checking notifications, getting back to DMs can be a way to read through and respond to them more quickly and can accelerate community management, for example in launches or live campaigns.
Instagram has not offered tablet-specific creation tools at launch—there are no overt callouts to Apple Pencil workflows or Stage Manager improvements for example—but the infrastructure is now in place.
Look for iterative updates that both play to the iPad’s strengths as a content screen and a light workstation.
Availability and Requirements
The new Instagram app is launching now for iPads that have iPadOS 15.1 or later installed. After you’ve installed it, your current login, privacy settings, saved collections and notifications all transfer, and the app feels like it’s in lockstep with core iPhone features — but with an even greater focus on Reels, and crisper navigation.
The launch satisfies one of the most longstanding feature requests of Instagram with a practical, video-centric approach to the tablet viewing experience. It won’t be a substitute for the phone’s camera for quick snaps, but for watching, commenting and managing a growing number of creator workflows the iPad finally can take a seat at the Instagram table.
