For fifteen years, the tech world had a running joke. We had cars that could drive themselves and rockets landing on platforms in the ocean, but we didn’t have a native Instagram app for the iPad. It was absurd. You either had to use the web version or that weird, pixelated iPhone app that sat in the middle of your screen like a lost postage stamp.
Then came late 2025. Without much fanfare, Meta finally flipped the switch.
If you haven't checked the App Store on your tablet lately, the search for instagram for ipad finally yields a real result. But honestly, it’s not exactly what many of us expected. Instead of just a "bigger iPhone," Meta built something that feels more like a dedicated entertainment console. It’s weird, it’s sleek, and it’s definitely designed to make you stay on your couch for three hours longer than you intended.
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Why it took 15 years (The real reason)
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, spent years dodging this. He’d jump on his Stories and tell people that "iPad users aren't a big enough group" or that they had "higher priorities." It was a classic corporate brush-off. In reality, the company was obsessed with mobile-first growth. They didn't want to spend engineering hours on a device that people mostly use for "lean-back" consumption when they could be optimizing the phone app for "on-the-go" scrolling.
What changed? Competition. TikTok has had a decent tablet interface for a while. Plus, with the rise of foldable phones like the Pixel Fold and Samsung’s Z Fold series, Meta had to figure out how to make Instagram look good on big, square-ish screens anyway. Once the work was done for foldables, porting it over to iPadOS became a lot easier.
It's a Reels machine now
When you first fire up the native app, the "Home" tab doesn't show your friends' photos. Not anymore. It drops you straight into a full-screen vertical video. Basically, it’s a giant TikTok.
Meta explicitly stated they designed the iPad version for "lean-back entertainment." They know you’re probably sitting on your sofa or lying in bed when you pick up an iPad. By defaulting to Reels, they’re betting that you want to be entertained, not necessarily "social."
The navigation is actually pretty smart. Instead of the bottom bar we’re used to on the iPhone, there’s a vertical sidebar on the left. This makes way more sense for your thumbs when you’re holding a heavy 11-inch or 13-inch tablet.
The features that actually work
- The Multi-Column Inbox: This is arguably the best part. You can see your list of threads on the left and the actual chat on the right, exactly like iMessage or Slack. No more bouncing back and forth.
- Simultaneous Commenting: When you’re watching a video, you can open the comments and they slide out to the side. You can keep watching the Reel while reading the "tea" in the comments. On a phone, the keyboard and comments usually hide half the video.
- The Following Tab: They added a specific "Following" section that lets you toggle between "All," "Friends," and "Latest." If you’re tired of the algorithm, you can hit "Latest" and see a chronological feed. It’s a small win for people who miss the "old" Instagram.
What's still broken?
It isn't all perfect. Some users on Reddit have already started complaining about the keyboard. If you’re using a Magic Keyboard or a Bluetooth case, the UI sometimes gets "wonky" and hides the text box you’re typing in. It feels a bit like a beta version that got pushed out to meet a deadline.
Also, the "Favorites" feed—the one where you pick specific people to follow closely—is strangely missing from certain views in the iPad version. It’s like Meta forgot that part of the code.
How to get the best experience
If you’re still seeing the tiny iPhone window, you need to go to the App Store and manually update. The app requires iPadOS 15.1 or later. If you have an older iPad that can’t run 15.1, you’re unfortunately still stuck with the web version.
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Pro tip for power users: Try using the app in Split View. If you drag another app (like Safari or Notes) next to Instagram, the layout automatically snaps into a format that looks more like the iPhone version. This is actually better for posting Stories or scrolling through your main feed because it gets rid of the giant black bars on the sides of vertical photos.
The 2026 outlook
Mosseri recently mentioned that 2026 is the year of "raw, real human content." He thinks we’re all getting tired of AI-generated "slop" and perfectly edited photos. The iPad app plays into this. It’s a much better canvas for seeing high-res photography and detailed video, but it also exposes how "fake" some highly edited content looks when blown up on a Retina display.
Whether you love the new Reels-first direction or hate it, at least we finally have an app that uses the whole screen. It only took a decade and a half.
Next Steps for iPad Users
- Check your version: Open the App Store and search for Instagram to ensure you’ve downloaded the native version, not the "Designed for iPhone" legacy app.
- Toggle your feed: Tap the Instagram logo in the top left or the "Following" tab to switch to the Latest view if the Reels-only home screen feels too overwhelming.
- Test Split View: Slide the app to one side of the screen to see if you prefer the more compact, phone-like layout for daily scrolling.