Instagram CEO says that there are no plans to create a native iPad app

If you don't own an iPad, you might not know that there is not an Instagram app for Apple's tablets. But that might not be surprising since stablemate WhatsApp is only now developing an app for the iPad. Instagram chief Adam Mosseri responded to the question "Where’s the Instagram iPad app?" by saying, "I spent a bit of a time on an iPad because I was on a flight, but still no iPad app for Instagram. It would be nice to do, but there’s a lot to do and only so many people, so it hasn’t made the cut."

This response doesn't make sense to many iPad owners. And back in June, Instagram started to allow those accessing the site from their computer to post to it from the desktop. Once iPadOS 15 is released (which could happen as soon as this coming week), a change will allow iPhone apps without an iPad counterpart to be viewed in landscape mode. The scaled-up iPhone version of Instagram will be able to switch orientation on the iPad following the release of iPadOS 15.

Back in 2010 when the iPad was brand new, Apple wanted to bring apps to the tablet that were available on the iPhone but not yet developed for the iPad. This way iPhone users could purchase an iPad with the knowledge that their favorite apps would be available (albeit in portrait mode only).

Currently, Instagram does have a pair of camera apps for the Apple iPad. Hyperlapse creates time-lapse videos using Instagram's in-house stabilization. This allows users to make time-lapse

videos without requiring the use of a tripod or other gear. An entire sunrise can be captured in just a 10-second video and an entire video can be sped up to 12 times normal. Videos can be shared seamlessly over Instagram and Facebook or saved on the camera roll to be shared with any platform.

The other Instagram camera app available for the iPad is Boomerang. With this app, you can record looping videos. As the App Store listing says, "Find something (or someone!) that's moving, or create a video selfie by switching to the front-facing camera. There’s just one button. Tap it once and Boomerang does the rest: shoots a burst of 10 photos and turns them into a delightful mini video. Share it on Facebook and Instagram right from the app, or save your video to your camera roll to share later."

As delightful as this sounds, iPad users would prefer to have an Instagram app made specifically for the tablet. While Facebook and Messenger do have iPad versions of their apps, it is the rest of the Facebook app family that acts as though the iPad doesn't exist. The WhatsApp for iPad native app is supposedly incoming but has yet to surface, and of course, there is the lack of an Instagram app for the tablets.

Facebook purchased WhatsApp in a transaction valued at over $21 billion when it closed in 2014. A couple of years earlier, Facebook purchased Instagram for $1 billion in a deal that has become one of the best investments ever made in the tech space. Bloomberg estimates that Instagram now has a current valuation of $100 billion providing Facebook with a huge paper profit.

Originally a photo filter, Instagram matured to become more of a social media/messaging app. One of the biggest moves it made was to steal away Snapchat's stories feature which allows pictures and videos to remain posted for 24 hours before they are removed. Ironically, Instagram's version of stories has been much more successful than Snapchat's and other apps have joined the club by offering their own stories-like feature.