Instagram just came to Windows 10 tablets — will the iPad be next?

By Lulu Chang October 14, 2016

instagram stop motion in testing 24 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Filter fiends, get excited. Instagram has just made its Windows 10 debut. On Thursday, the Facebook-owned photo editing and sharing app announced its arrival on tablets running Windows 10. The move comes just a few months after Instagram went to Windows 10 Mobile, and now, the tablet app boasts “all your favorite features, including Instagram Stories, Direct, and Explore.” Better yet, the app notes, users will be able to capture, edit, and share directly from their Windows 10 devices.

Back in April, Instagram first became available to Windows users, but only those with Windows phones. Now, however, it has become a universal app, available across the Windows ecosystem. Users can enjoy the features for which Instagram is known best, with a live tile feed, rich, native notifications, and Instagram Direct (to let you send threaded messages with one or more people, and share posts as a message).

Of course, you can also post and edit photos, but this is only available for tablets and PCs with touchscreens and backward-facing cameras. It’s a little weird, sure, but if you have a Microsoft Surface Pro or Surface Book, you can upload just fine. Instagram for Windows 10 PCs can be downloaded from Microsoft’s Windows Store.

While the Windows community will no doubt celebrate the arrival of Instagram to its suite of products, Instagram still has yet to build a tailored app for the iPad, with Apple tablet users still forced to use an unoptimized iPhone version. Sorry, Apple users, sometimes it doesn’t pay to stay loyal to the iEmpire.

The Windows release is certainly a smart play for Instagram, given that Windows 10 is running on more than 400 million devices globally as of last month, more than double the numbers Microsoft reported in January. As for Instagram, its own monthly active users stand around 500 million.

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