Instagram has updated its mobile site with the ability to post photos without using the app, TechCrunch reports. While the move is intended to make sharing to Instagram easier in markets with slow network speeds by eliminating the need to download the Instagram app, the new feature also extends to the web version of Instagram on the iPad…
Now anyone can visit Instagram.com from a mobile device including the iPhone to post photos to the social network. The mobile version of Instagram’s website was previously limited to browsing your timeline, search and discovery, notifications, and managing your account.
Because Instagram’s mobile site treats the iPad like a mobile device, this new feature intended to improve the experience in emerging markets happens to improve the experience on iPad as well.
Sharing a photo from the iPad to Instagram previously required downloading the Instagram iPhone app which either runs with black boxes around the small version or scales up to look fuzzy.
Since you can now share photos from Instagram’s mobile site, this adds an important feature to the Instagram web app for iPad. It’s definitely not as ideal as a real iPad app (navigation is slow and the timeline doesn’t have an optimal layout like the profile grid), but it beats using the iPhone app scaled up.
You can also save the Instagram web app to your Home screen (which presents it separately in multitasking and Spotlight search) by tapping the share icon from Safari and selecting the ‘Add to Home’ option from the share sheet.
Instagram’s mobile site leaves out data-heavy features like Stories and newer capabilities like messaging, but it’s a lightweight option on slow networks and potentially the best solution on iPad for now.
