Instagram is now listed on the App Store as available for Apple TV, alongside iPhone and iPad, bringing an app built around vertical video to a horizontal screen.
The Apple version follows earlier tests. Instagram began trying a TV format in late 2025 on Amazon Fire TVs, then rolled it out to Samsung TVs in mid-2026. The most visible change is orientation. Phone video is mostly portrait, while televisions are landscape, so the TV app has to handle horizontal video as well as Reels, Instagram's short clips.
Instagram is also exploring longer-form video, episodic video, live streaming and subscriptions. Meta, its parent company, is betting that short-form video will translate to the big screen, where it can be watched more communally. It is also working closely with creators to make uploading and streaming easier.
The landscape support may matter more than the TV app itself. Creators who shoot vertical for phones have little reason to change habits unless a wider screen brings them an audience. Without that, a TV app is mostly a bigger window onto the same clips. Episodes, live shows and paid tiers are what would turn it into a destination, and subscriptions are still on the exploring list rather than a launched product.
That is also where YouTube comes in. It already offers both short clips and long videos, and many viewers treat it as television. Instagram has the stronger short-clip habit on phones. Each service is now trying to borrow the other's strength, and Instagram is the one starting further from the couch.