Instagram’s CEO has said that a dedicated iPad app for Instagram remains a “low priority.”
According to a tweet from The Verge’s Chris Welch, CEO Adam Mosseri said in a recent conference that Instagram “would like to build an iPad app,” but that the company “only has so many people, and lots to do, and it hasn’t bubbled up as the next best thing to do yet.”
The company has been quizzed on launching a dedicated iPad app for a number of years, as the iPhone-optimized app doesn’t work well on larger tablet displays, limiting the amount of content users can see.
By launching a dedicated app, Instagram could optimize their service for the iPad audience and improve the user experience on the world’s most popular tablet, but it seems they’re not interested.
Last month, the company said that it had focused on bringing direct messages to the web ahead of an iPad app because it was important to help users “stay in touch with the people you care about,” again suggesting that an iPad version of its app was not on the roadmap.
Several years ago, there were a number of successful third-party Instagram apps that offered an improved browsing experience, but they were killed off when Instagram limited its API.
Some would argue that Instagram’s web experience offers a viable alternative to a dedicated Instagram app, but it cannot offer the same features a native iPadOS experience could offer.
With Apple’s Project Catalyst, an Instagram iPad app could even allow the company to bring a native Instagram experience to the Mac, though again Instagram appears disinterested.
Twitter has a dedicated Mac app, and Facebook is working on a Messenger app for the Mac to launch this year.
Generating billions of dollars in ad revenue per year, it seems an unusual move for one of the world’s biggest technology names not to invest in an iPad app. Do you think there’s more to this story than meets the eye? Let us know on Twitter and check back soon for more.
