The day many iPadOS users have been waiting for has finally arrived: Meta has updated the iOS Instagram app with iPadOS support.

This is not a drill.

Version 396.0.0 on the App Store now adds an iPad-optimized layout for the first time in the service’s 15-year history. As expected, the layout follows the same UI patterns Meta has used when bringing Instagram to larger screens like the web, Android foldables, or even Windows (the Verge notes this layout is coming soon to Android tablets).

Looks Familiar

Because Meta has already released Instagram on larger-screened devices, there aren’t many surprises in the iPad layout. The app launches directly into the Reels experience, which makes sense given the theory that companies like Snap and Meta are expanding their social apps across more platforms to ward off TikTok.

You could make a pretty strong case the web version of Instagram was good enough on a tablet. And that would have been true if Meta had bothered to implement web push notifications (it seems like very few sites have bothered). Overall the interface is serviceable on iPad, but I bet it’ll look great an a folding iPhone in the future.

iPad Platform Citizenship Test

The app supports both Split View and Slide Over, for those who won’t be upgrading to iPadOS 26. It remains a single-window app and does not support multi-window use. A few keyboard shortcuts are available for navigating between different tabs.

Meta Has Moved On to Different Battles

Despite the explanations executives have given over the years, it has always felt like the lack of an iPad version of Instagram was something of a casualty of the ongoing war between Apple and Meta. Meta has long objected to Apple and Google acting as gatekeepers of the mobile market. Despite some earlier efforts, the social media company was never able to establish its own mobile fiefdom. Building or expanding its various businesses on mobile generally means Google and/or Apple will be getting some of the profits.

Now the war is shifting into areas where Meta believes it has a much stronger hand to play than either Google or Apple.

In the AR/VR headset space, the company reportedly holds close to 75% market share. Meta is also rumored to be announcing its first pair of smart glasses with a heads-up display (HUD) later this month, with the product expected to ship later this year. Like Google, Meta is also investing heavily in AI integration across all of its products and services. Conveniently, these are areas that are perceived to be weaknesses for Apple.

Meta is working hard to take the lead in what it hopes will be the next frontier of personal computing. Keeping Instagram off the iPad isn’t the power move it once was. Meta no longer cares. Instead, the company is skating to where it thinks the puck is going, trying to turn the tables on the two companies that still maintain a stranglehold on the smartphone and tablet market.

The fight for mobile is over. Google and Apple won.

The fight for whatever’s next is still anyone’s game.

Instagram for iPad and iPhone can, of course, be downloaded from the App Store.