It’s actually pretty remarkable that Instagram’s own official application isn’t exactly perfect on iPad because it simply uses an upscaled version of the existing iPhone application. That’s hardly ideal, now is it? To make things even worse, the iPhone application is completely zoomed and not optimized for the iPad’s screen resolution or aspect ratio, resulting in an experience that isn’t even full screen. Luckily, there’s a quick and easy way to make sure that you can view your Instagram feed and post photos and videos on full screen on your iPad or your iPad Pro, and it’s a trick that will keep working in 2021 and beyond.
Why is Instagram not full screen on iPad?
Instagram, or rather Facebook, the owners of the photo-sharing platform, have decided not to release a separate application for the Apple tablets, but to purely focus on delivering an iPhone application. Even though you can find Instagram just fine in the App Store on your tablet, it will be the non-optimized version that’s meant to be viewed on smaller devices such as iPhones and the iPod Touch. The Instagram staff members have always said that developing a pure iPad version was never a priority for them, despite iPads being the most popular tablets in the market with an overwhelming market share.
A lot of experts and users alike are fathomed why Facebook, a billion-dollar company, could not come up with the staff or resources to develop an iPad application for undoubtedly their most popular application. Some users believe that the move is intentional and that Instagram isn’t meant to be viewed on tablets, because of their higher screen resolution as well as a bigger screen, and the fact that imperfections in Instagram’s compression algorithm would be more prevalent. In other words, they might be scared that users will notice that the image quality on Instagram takes a hit whenever you view it on a larger device, so they decided not to give iPad users the possibility to view them in full screen.
Of course, that’s just a theory that’s going around, but a pretty feasible one nonetheless. After all, it’s impossible that a company the size of Facebook couldn’t be bothered to develop a decent, full-screen application on iPads.
What is the best Instagram app for iPad in 2021?
Unfortunately, there is only one app in the App Store that allows you to browse through your Instagram feed. In the past, there used to be many others, including the likes of Pad Gram and Pinstagram, but those have all been shut down by Instagram themselves. Back in 2018, the developers of Instagram announced that their API would no longer serve these third-party apps due to safety concerns.
To continuously improve Instagram users’ privacy and security, we are accelerating the deprecation of Instagram API Platform, making the following changes effective immediately. We understand that this may affect your business or services, and we appreciate your support in keeping our platform secure.
So what’s the best Instagram app for your iPad you can use? Frankly, there’s only one app available in Apple’s App Store, the official Instagram app itself. However, you can use an alternative which we explain below – we’ll be using a website version of Instagram that is much more versatile, graphically pleasing, and also offers rotating functionality to landscape mode.
How can you view Instagram in full screen on my iPad or iPad Pro?
Luckily, there’s a way that you can use Instagram in all its glory on an iPad, and it actually does not involve an application at all. Or rather – we’ll be using Instagram’s progressive web application instead. In contrast to the regular app, you’ll find in the App Store, the web version of Instagram is directly run from your browser (usually Safari on iPads), which does fill up your entire screen and gives you a much more pleasant experience. You’ll also notice that pictures will be sharper and Instagram is just much more user-friendly in this manner. After using the web version, we’re pretty sure you’re going to want to delete that obnoxious iPhone version from your tablet in no time.
For the following steps, you’ll need an Instagram account (duh!), an iPad, iPad Mini, iPad Air, or iPad Pro running at least iOS 13 (this has also been tested on iOS 14 and iOS 15), and an internet connection on your device. Sounds simple enough, right?
- Open up Safari on your iPad and head over to https://www.instagram.com
- You’ll be asked to log in to your account, simply enter your username and password or use the Facebook login integration
- On the right side of the address bar in Safari, you’ll find a share button. Tap it and select “Add to Home Screen”
- An icon will be placed on your iPad’s home screen
Whenever you tap this icon on your iPad (which looks just like the regular app and just shows the Instagram logo), you’ll immediately see the Instagram progressive web application with all of its benefits.
It is now finally in full screen, shows you crisp pictures and it also allows you to send DM’s, like posts, view stories made by others, and even publish your own posts. It’s everything you need in this simple web application that offers a much better experience than using the official iPad app.
Summary
In short, the official iPad application for Instagram is pure trash since it is not optimized for bigger tablet screens at all. It’s not even full screen and pictures look blurry. Luckily, there’s a way to view Instagram in full screen on your iPad just fine, by installing the progressive web application to your iPad home screen. It behaves just like an app but is miles ahead of the normal experience that Facebook provides.
Happy ‘gramming!
