Instagram is launching a dedicated iPad app for the first time, offering a redesigned version of its popular mobile app that’s meant to encourage more video consumption.
The new app for Apple Inc’s iPad will open into Reels, Meta Platforms Inc’s short-form video feature and TikTok rival – a departure from the default photo and video feed that opens on the Instagram mobile app. Users can navigate to the traditional photo and video feeds via a separate tab, and the iPad version includes other well-known Instagram features like Stories and direct messages.
"We’ve redesigned the experience to reflect how people use bigger screens today,” Instagram wrote in a blog post.
Users have requested an iPad app for years, but Instagram never built one in part because of technical challenges. When the photo sharing service focused on growth in its early years, the company’s engineers took pains to ensure the app would load images quickly, even on poor Internet connections, and only displayed as many pixels as absolutely necessary for a phone screen. That meant the same image that looked great on a mobile app would look blurry stretched for an iPad.
An app was also considered a low priority for engineering teams because the iPad isn’t seen as a consumer’s primary device, meaning it wasn’t likely to spur much user growth. The iPad has made a bit of a sales comeback in recent years and is projected to generate more than US$28bil (RM118.49bil) in the fiscal year ending this month. Apple is expected to release a revamped iPad Pro later this year.
Instagram now has more than 2 billion monthly users and is estimated to account for roughly 50% of Meta’s total advertising revenue.
The redesign also demonstrates the popularity of Reels, Meta’s short-form video product that looks and feels a lot like ByteDance Ltd’s TikTok. Reels is a significant driver of time and attention inside both Instagram and Facebook. Last November, Meta said that 50% of time spent on Instagram is on Reels.
The Instagram iPad app will be available as a free download starting Wednesday. Meta also rolled out an iPad version of its WhatsApp messaging service in May. – Bloomberg
