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At long last, the white whale of iOS has been harpooned: Instagram finally made an app for iPad.
Shockingly, there had never been a true iPad Instagram app — you could download the regular Instagram mobile app and use it on an iPad, but it was a uniquely crummy experience — you could use it with a phone-sized display or zoomed out, and the whole thing was clunky and sad.
Finally, there’s a new iPad version, nearly 15 years after Instagram first launched. (The iPad, also launched in 2010, just barely predates Instagram.)
I tried it out on my iPad (which, honestly, I don’t use all that much other than occasionally for scrolling on the couch when I leave my phone in the other room), and I have to say: This is the Cadillac of doomscrolling.
The biggest difference the iPad app has from the phone version is that it always opens onto the Reels tab. No more pretense that you might be hoping to see “photos” from your “friends” in the main feed.
Instead, you’ll see Stories at the top, should you choose to interact with those plebes you know in real life who cling to the sad concept of posting photos and videos from their real life to share with their close friends.
Meta
What I like best about the experience is that the sound on the first video you see is off by default. But instead of having to tap the 🔊 icon in the corner of the frame, you simply scroll down slightly, and the sound starts playing. This saves you the highly unpleasant experience of opening an app and having sound start playing right away, and it’s also more intuitive to just slightly scroll down than to hunt and tap for a sound on/off icon. Great!
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What does it mean that Instagram’s iPad app is so Reels-centric? A more video-first approach makes sense with Reels and iPads. Since iPads are popular for watching video content — YouTube or Netflix — why not sit back and watch some Reels?
Instagram’s official blog post says: “With Instagram for iPad, we’ve redesigned the experience to reflect how people use bigger screens today — for lean back entertainment.”
Buddy, you don’t have to tell me twice to lean back and stare at a screen until I feel numb inside! Thanks, Meta!
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