Mehul Reuben DasJan 02, 2023 14:21:39 IST
It wouldn’t be farfetched to say that Meta has a strange relationship with one of its most successful properties, Instagram. For all intents and purposes, Meta seems to be hell-bent to milk everything Instagram as much as it can – that is the reason, why Meta wants the image and video sharing platform to become more like TikTok and revolutionise what people think of short from videos and how people consume it. And yet, Meta simply refuses to do that one thing that Instagram users, mainly social media managers, want desperately – make an Instagram app for tablets and the iPad.
Instagram initially started out as an iPhone-only app for sharing photos, almost 12 years, ago, around the same time that the iPad was launched. And apart from making an app that basically lets users browse Instagram in its web version, neither Meta nor Instagram have done much in terms of a dedicated tablet version of the App.
The need for a tablet or iPad version of the App
Instagram, and in fact all social media platforms have become massive arenas for advertisements. Some of the most prominent users on the platform, starting from micro-influencers to proper, mega stars have dedicated teams that manage the social media presence of these stars. Unlike most other social media platforms, Instagram doesn’t work that well on desktops or Macs, and of course, it doesn’t work well on an iPad. This alone should be a big enough reason for Instagram to make a dedicated app for tablets and iPads.
Secondly, some of the tablets, especially some of the latest iPads from Apple are powerful enough to substitute laptops and Macbooks. Not only are people using this to surf the web and do basic productivity tasks, but several social media managers and artists are also actually using their iPads to edit videos, music, and photos.
Instagram actually made apps for the iPad
It may come as a surprise but Instagram actually made a bunch of apps for iPads in particular. Instagram themselves have made two iPad camera apps, Hyperlapse and Boomerang, but not the main app.
This decision to make camera apps for the iPad actually makes no sense when you consider that cameras on the iPad have never been even remotely comparable to those on the iPhone. So Instagram, making two dedicated camera apps for the iPad, but not the basic Instagram app itself, doesn’t make much sense.
Meta killed Instagram alternatives for iPads
Several developers actually made apps that let users browse Instagram in a better manner than the actual app. However, Instagram changed its API that gave developers access to the service in their apps. Instagram killed the market for iPad app alternatives without making its own.
Web applications can’t compete with properly coded apps
Meta and Instagram insist that the “web-version app” of Instagram’s website is more than good enough. However, it is nowhere close to the native app. Try comparing using a dedicated app, with using the website version of the app, and you’ll see what we’re on about.
