A few days ago and fifteen years too late, Meta released an official iPad app for WhatsApp. And while many celebrated the end of one of the most inexplicable software holdouts in App Store history, others asked the most obvious follow-up question: “Thanks! Can we have Instagram next?”
Yes, as it turns out.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in the latest edition of his Power On newsletterMeta is now “full steam ahead” in its development and testing of a native Instagram app for the iPad:
“I’m told that employees on the Meta Platforms Inc. campus are actively testing Instagram for the iPad and that development work is full steam ahead. I would expect it to be released this year if all goes to plan.”
Despite being owned by one of the world’s biggest tech companies and being a core iPhone app for many users, Instagram has never offered an optimized iPad experience. Instead, iPad users have had to settle for the iPhone app, zoomed in.
Why the delay?
To many, the lack of iPad support across Meta’s portfolio has long felt like a petty swipe at Apple, as Mark Zuckerberg’s way of getting back at Tim Cook for past skirmishes between the two companies.
For one, Zuckerberg reportedly felt personally slighted when Cook responded“I wouldn’t be in this situation,” after journalist Kara Swisher asked what he would do if Apple had been facing a privacy scandal like Cambridge Analytica.
And then, there was the whole Onavo hubbub, which got Meta briefly (and very publicly) kicked out of Apple’s developer program.
In any case, the decision has always felt odd, especially considering how naturally Instagram lends itself to casual browsing and media consumption. All of which feel better on a bigger screen.
But now that WhatsApp has made the leap, it looks like Instagram is finally next in line.
Why now?
Part of the delay, Gurman notes, was technical: “Pictures also have often been low-resolution, something that would be more evident on a larger screen.”. Another part, perhaps, was pettiness. See above.
But times have changed, and the iPad’s user base has grown. In addition, Instagram’s own use cases have evolved to include high-resolution content, widescreen video, and long-form media consumption.
And then there’s TikTok, which is available on iPad and continues to gain ground. While Meta probably expected its TikTok problem to go away in court, that’s looking less likely by the day.
In the end, with competition heating up and Meta running out of options to increase revenue on its current user base, the time may have finally come for Meta to accept that, much like with WhatsApp, having an iPad Instagram app is no longer optional.
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