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Meta Platforms is said to be working towards introducing a native Instagram app for the iPad. It is expected to build upon the recent, highly requested launch of WhatsApp for iPad, which arrived after years of users requesting support for devices with larger screens. The development of an Instagram app designed to run on the iPad is reportedly underway, as per a seasoned journalist. The app is also said to be in active testing among employees at the company’s campus ahead of its expected release later this year.
Instagram for iPad
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman shared information about Meta’s plans for a native Instagram app for the iPad in the Q and A section of the weekly Power On newsletter. As per the journalist, the app will be released later this year “if all goes to plan”, with its development fully underway.
Ahead of its launch, the native Instagram for iPad experience is reportedly being tested among Meta employees at the company’s campus.
While Instagram is currently available for the Apple tablet on the App Store, it is a zoomed-in version of the iPhone app, with the content appearing at the centre of the screen. The app is said to be designed to work with a small-screen display, such as a smartphone. Gurman notes that Meta hadn’t introduced a dedicated app for the iPad in the past owing to several concerns. Issues related to optimisation were reportedly in mind, with doubts about square images appearing on the iPad.
Further, there were also concerns about low-resolution images appearing more evident on the tablet’s larger screen. However, the technology is now reported to have been caught up and Meta is planning to introduce the app which can run natively on iPad nearly a decade and half after the platform was launched in 2010.
Notably, this is not the first time that the development of a native Instagram app has been reported. Previously, it was suggested that the company aimed to “further drive usage of Instagram” with a dedicated iPad app.
This feat was reportedly prompted by two factors — the risk of TikTok’s ban in the US under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act and the recent tariffs levied by US President Donald Trump on several countries, including India.
