Instagram iPad App Now Opens Directly to Reels Tab
Instagram's iPad app now opens directly to the Reels tab, providing users immediate access to short-form video content. This update streamlines the user experience, removing extra navigation.
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Overview
- Instagram has rolled out an update for its iPad application, focusing on improving user access to its video content.
- The key change is that the iPad app now automatically opens directly to the popular Reels tab upon launch.
- This new feature allows iPad users to immediately view and engage with short-form video content without additional navigation steps.
- The update aims to streamline content discovery and make the Reels feature more prominent and accessible for tablet users.
- Users can now enjoy a more direct and efficient pathway to explore Instagram's dynamic video offerings on their iPads.
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Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame this story by highlighting Instagram's long-standing resistance to an iPad app, using a tone of exasperation and mild cynicism. They emphasize the app's perceived shortcomings, particularly the default launch into Reels, which is framed as a commercial decision to prioritize ads and mimic TikTok, rather than user preference.
Articles (3)
FAQ
The Instagram iPad app features a redesigned interface optimized for larger screens, including a default opening to the Reels tab, a multi-column layout to browse content while managing messages or notifications, a Following tab with customizable feed options ('All', 'Friends', 'Latest'), and expanded comment viewing alongside Reels.
Instagram's official iPad app was released on September 3, 2025, and it supports iPads running iPadOS 15.1 and later.
The app opens directly to the Reels tab for immediate access to short-form video, includes Stories at the top, and offers a Following tab that lets users switch among 'All' recommended posts and reels, 'Friends' for mutual followers, and 'Latest' for chronological posts and reels, with the ability to customize the feed order.
Yes, the iPad app supports messaging with a layout that allows users to read and send direct messages while simultaneously viewing notifications and browsing content in a multi-column interface.
Before this release, Instagram did not have a dedicated iPad app; users had to rely on the iPhone app scaled up or the web version, which was not optimized for the larger screen. This release represents the first official Instagram app designed specifically for iPad.
History
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