Why Trump tariffs are forcing Instagram u-turn which Apple users will actually love

Instagram could be getting a major glow-up that Apple users will love - and bizarrely, Donald Trump's tariff war could be to thank.

The US president has made headlines with his sky-high tariffs imposed on China in recent days. And if you're a TikTok user, you'll know that this has essentially put a stop to the Chinese-owned app being saved from its looming US ban.

Now, years after Instagram boss Adam Mosseri took to Twitter to insist there weren't enough iPad users to justify a dedicated app, it looks like the tide has finally turned.

Yes, as per The Information, parent company Meta is now actively developing a proper Instagram app for iPad.

That's right, one that actually uses the full screen instead of awkwardly stretching the iPhone version, making it fiddly to use.

For iPad users who’ve been stuck with this narrow layout for years, this could be the upgrade they’ve long been waiting for.

So, what changed? It's all down to a combination of politics and platform wars.

As mentioned before, the US government is still threatening to ban TikTok, with the app going dark for a while on January 18 when it was initially due to end.

Yet Trump has done what he can to extend its life, but has a new mid-June deadline to contend with which is slowly creeping closer.

The TikTok ban saga has dragged on for years, but Trump’s recent tariff moves seem to have derailed a deal that could’ve kept TikTok running under a US-based ownership structure.

US technology company Oracle was reportedly set to acquire parent company ByteDance's US assets, with a plan hatched to allow ByteDance to retain a minority stake while Oracle managed US users' data.

It could be good news for Instagram iPad users (Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Now, in response to Trump's recent tariffs, the Chinese government withdrew its support for the deal and must approve any sale involving TikTok's data and algorithm. And it's not exactly like China is favoring the US right now...

That chaos has left the door wide open for rivals, including Instagram, to capitalize.

Meta had already been ramping up its efforts in recent updates, particularly with its Reels feature. A recent update allowed longer videos, a redesigned, rectangular profile grid, and a separate video-editing app called Edits, similar to ByteDance's CapCut.

It could be hoped by Meta that more and more social media users will flock to Reels should TikTok be banned for good this summer, with iPad users possibly getting a fully-optimized app which makes posting and browsing far less painful.

So, for once, Trump’s tariffs may have accidentally done Apple fans a favor.

Meta have yet to confirm whether an iPad version of Instagram is in the works.

UNILAD has contacted Meta for comment.