TikTok for iPad now supports landscape orientation, something Instagram & Snapchat should emulate

Social media, is all the rage right now on the internet. These social media companies make millions of dollars a year. It is therefore no surprise that we see new ones creeping up every other day.

With the advent of the smartphone came a new breed of social media, the Instagrams and Snapchats, and TikToks of the world. These mobile-first platforms are tailor-made for the smartphone experience.

So now we have platforms like Facebook and Twitter which work well on both desktop and smartphones, and these other apps that tend to work better on smartphones and their portrait orientations.

iPads and tablets are still a significant part of our tech lives and they suddenly fall in this weird grey area with these mobile-first apps. They’re mobile devices but the screen size and orientation is not exactly suitable for these apps.

This is the predicament that iPad users have been facing for ages now. At the time of writing, the iPad doesn’t have a dedicated app for Instagram or Snapchat, having to settle for scaled versions of the iPhone app.

TikTok is aiming to change this scenario as reports now indicate that the new and hip social media platform has added support for horizontal orientation to its iPad app.

TikTok recently added horizontal orientation to its iPad app, one thing that SOME social media apps STILL lack… *cough cough* Instagram, Snapchat
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Reaction from users on the community forums has been rather swift, many dissing Instagram and Snapchat for not taking the iPad seriously for a long time.

Anyone else find it mind-boggling that two behemoths like Instagram and Snapchat don’t have an iPad app.
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there is no landscape view on the Instagram iPhone App, so we just have huge black bars on the sides. It’s infuriating how bad Facebook is developing software (WhatsApp is another example of an awful app from them). Another disadvantage is that you cannot use it in split-view.

At least the website is usable on the iPad, but the iPad app is horrible in both landscape and portrait mode.
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The case for Instagram is a little more confusing as there is a standalone iPad app for Boomerang for Instagram for the iPad, yet the Instagram app still feels like a blown-up iPhone app, with massive black bars on the side and all.

funnily enough “Boomerang for Instagram” is a native iPad app. It just doesn’t make sense to me…
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Reports also indicate that iPadOS 15 is expected to add support for landscape orientation for iPhone apps but that might not be enough to juice up the iPad experience.

TikTok moving to support landscape orientation on the iPad should be a wake-up call for other app developers. The iPad (unlike Android tablets) is probably here to stay and the longer they take to spruce up the experience, the more they alienate their users with these devices.

We shall continue to look into this and update as or when the other app developers oblige and enhance their app experience on the iPad so stay tuned.

NOTE: We have these and many more TikTok stories here so stay tuned to PiunikaWeb for more.

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