Today, Windows 10 users, particularly Windows 10 tablet users, will be delighted to discover that Instagram has an app for Windows 10. And it’s pretty solid, aside from the very weird fact that you can only upload photos if you’ve got a touchscreen handy. But this has once again raised complaints from Instagram fans about one very glaring hole in the Instagram app portfolio: There’s no Instagram app optimized for the iPad.
Oh, there’s an app you can use on the iPad, but it’s designed for the iPhone. And even loading that app is something of a convoluted mess. If you don’t have an iPhone, you’ll need to tap on the Featured tab in the App store, search for Instagram, change the button in the top right to “iPhone only”, and download the app that way. And once you do have it, well, get your pinching fingers ready, since the app uses iPhone sizing and resolution. Sure, you can look at it through Safari, but that won’t let you upload photos. Or you can use a third-party app, but that won’t let you upload photos, either.
It’s not that Instagram doesn’t know there’s a market. People have been complaining about this for years. Determining just why, though, this crime against convenience lingers, requires looking at the suspects — namely Facebook and Apple.
Facebook has, historically, not been a fan of the iPad. It took a year for Facebook to roll out an iPad app, and Facebook doesn’t seem in any great hurry to roll out iPad apps in general. There are twice as many apps from Facebook for the iPhone compared to the iPad. Granted, missing Stickered and Selfied is probably not much of a detriment to iPad users, but it tells users where Facebook’s priorities lie.
Then there’s Apple. Back in the days of Steve Jobs, there was plenty of bad blood between the two companies. While things seem to have settled in recent years, the disagreements likely still linger. And then there’s the simplest answer of all: Facebook thinks, and is quite possibly right, that the iPhone 7’s more advanced camera means many Instagrammers prefer using their iPhone in the first place.
Regardless, it appears that, for now, all Instagrammers with iPads have will be workarounds. But who knows? The iPad is about due for an update, and Instagram users may yet have the app of their dreams. Or failing that, at least an app you don’t have to zoom as much.
(Via Engadget)
