Instagram Head Says iPad App Is Low Priority Because Not Enough People Want It

[MacRumors]

The head of Instagram has commented on Twitter about the lack of an iPad app for Instagram, saying that while the social media platform is asked about an iPad app a lot, there is still not enough demand to warrant one.

In a Twitter exchange with YouTuber Marques Brownlee, Adam Mosseri, who runs Instagram, said his company gets asked about an iPad app a lot, but it's "still just not a big enough group of people to be a priority" adding Instagram hopes to have an iPad app at some point, but the company is currently "very heads down on other things."

Mosseri has commented on the issue in the past, blaming the lack of an Instagram app for iPad on not having enough employees. While there is no official app for Instagram for iPad, iPadOS 15 has improved the experience of using the iPhone Instagram app on an iPad since iPhone apps on iPad can now run in landscape mode.

Article Link: Instagram Head Says iPad App Is Low Priority Because Not Enough People Want It

 

[Reason077]

WhatsApp on Apple Watch, please!

 

[verpeiler]

Small indie company. No seriously, creating an iPad app shouldn’t be that difficult, even if it’s just a scaled up version.

 

[djcerla]

Sounds as sincere as a Kremlin spokesman, given that the hugely requested Apple Watch app is "low priority" too.

 

[contacos]

Literally would take them 5 minutes to make. Their regular App is basically just the web view with additional photo features in the first place.

How would they even know without even providing one. I doubt people are going to write them like "dear Meta leaders, can you please make an Instagram App for iPad for me. Thank you very much!"

 

[Greenmeenie]

As an iPad user & photographer, I find this ridiculous. Of course I want an iPad version of instagram! And I would think everyone else who owns an iPad would want it as well. There’s an iPad version of FaceBook. It makes zero sense why FB wouldn’t make one for Instagram, especially since they OWN Instagram!

 

[daabido]

It makes zero sense why FB wouldn’t make one for Instagram, especially since they OWN Instagram!

Money, money, money.

 

[JamonBull]

I really can't understand this reasoning. Instagram is owned by Meta. Surely they have insane amounts of resources to devote to iPad app development. In their most recent quarter, Apple saw $7.1b of revenue from iPad, a device with a great camera on the back for photography and a giant gorgeous display for looking at much more content than an iPhone display can offer up. The Instagram live experience would be so much better on iPad. How could it hurt Instagram to make an iPad version? I could see it only benefitting them.

 

[Wanted797]

Because they don’t want to lose people to using iPad only. Thus removing their geo tracking for advertising.

 

[daabido]

I really can't understand this reasoning. Instagram is owned by Meta. Surely they have insane amounts of resources to devote to iPad app development. In their most recent quarter, Apple saw $7.1b of revenue from iPad, a device with a great camera on the back for photography and a giant gorgeous display for looking at much more content than an iPhone display can offer up. The Instagram live experience would be so much better on iPad. How could it hurt Instagram to make an iPad version? I could see it only benefitting them.

They don't make as much money from iOS because of the default privacy settings. It's probably a trade-off. They need an iPhone app so they're not just stuck with web pages and Android, but do they need an iPad app? Probably not, so why spend the money on it? There's probably some amount of middle finger in there too.

 

[iConnected]

The head of Instagram [Adam Mosseri] has commented ... saying that ... there is still not enough demand to warrant one.

Satisfying latent demand has been one of the biggest drivers of Apple's success.

Perhaps Mr Mosseri might usefully do the same.

 

[evanmac]

iPad is really a low priority it seems. See this
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/fb-messenger-app-is-it-broken.2336124/
The reasoning though is sketchy.

 

[IsaacM]

Because they don’t want to lose people to using iPad only. Thus removing their geo tracking for advertising.

This.

They can get more info about you on iPhone.

 

[yabeweb]

It might be true, but making an ipad version it's not reinventing the wheel, how many resources would be needed to scale the app...

 

[4nonymous]

It's because there is no iPad version of Instagram.
Who wants to use iOS version of Instagram on iPad?
This is why there are no Instagram users on iPad.
I guess once they provide iPad version, the number of users will be increased explosively.

 

[Harvey Zoltan]

I want it. Am I not people.

 

[madebybela]

"we get this one a lot"
I hate tech dudes so much

 

[MajorFubar]

Because they don’t want to lose people to using iPad only. Thus removing their geo tracking for advertising.

^ This is going to be part of the real reason. It would take literally seconds and next to zero effort to develop an iPad app from the iPhone equivalent, or even port the iPhone app to iPad's app store. I remember the days when there were literally no iPad apps because the device had only just launched and everything was a scaled-up iPhone app. So no, the official reason will not wash with me, nor probably with Marques Brownlee.

 

[sinoka56]

Small indie company. No seriously, creating an iPad app shouldn’t be that difficult, even if it’s just a scaled up version.

Apple with the calculator app ?

 

[Abazigal]

There used to be a fairly capable instagram ipad app until they pulled the API for it. Effectively crippling the app because it could no longer pull updates from the service.

Maybe Apple should put the pressure on instagram a little. Threaten to pull their app or block all future updates until an ipad app of acceptable quality is put forth or something.

 

[PeteBurgh]

No Instagram for iPad has always seemed like such an oddity. I guess there are four main possible justifications

1) not enough people want it (which I find hard to believe)
2) FB/Meta finds it easier to do the data collection they want on your phone (easy to believe)
3) the resizing and compressing of photos on Insta is so aggressive that the photos would look really crappy on iPad, and they aren’t ready to pay for the extra server costs to allow for high res photos (easy to believe)
4) Insta has such a messy backend and a janky app with so much technical debt that rewriting it for a larger screen would require a whole new app (not really sure, but c’mon, Meta have the resources to do this if they wanted).

In the meantime, I’m glad that Glass - a non-tracking, non-algorithmic alternative to Insta - just launched its iPad app. I like it and I hope it catches on, but I’m doubtful given the general hostility towards subscriptions.

 

[TechRunner]

I used to be frustrated by the lack of an Instagram app, but having left the Metaverse, I've turned my attention to other life frustrations.

 

[pauloregan]

Is it because the photo are so optimised they would not appear great on a ipad? The cloud storage required to store 4 times the data (or more) for a good looking ipad photo would cost a fortune compared to the people estimated to use it.

 

[Danfango]

Is it because the photo are so optimised they would not appear great on a ipad? The cloud storage required to store 4 times the data (or more) for a good looking ipad photo would cost a fortune compared to the people estimated to use it.

This is exactly the problem.

Garbage quality photos look pretty good on the average Instagram equipped phone. Stuff it on a Retina iPad and they have all sorts of design, storage and data transmission problems to overcome.

 

[jbattan]

This is one of the many reasons why I use TikTok much more than Instagram. It’s ridiculous reasoning from meta.

And I see only one minor reason why running an iPhone app in iPad landscape mode is a good idea, and that’s if you have it docked with a keyboard.