How to install Snapchat and other iPhone-specific apps on an iPad

Reuters

Snapchat is designed for smartphones, but you can still install and use the app on an iPad with these steps.

• Snapchat is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, but there is no version designed especially for the iPad.
• You can install the iPhone version of Snapchat (and other iPhone-specific apps) on your iPad by changing the App Store's filter to display iPhone apps.
• Once installed, you can make the display full screen, or shrink it down to the size it would appear on an iPhone.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Snapchat is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world. Originally designed as a secure way to send pictures and video to someone else, the app intentionally made anything shared inaccessible a short time later. That made everything in Snapchat ephemeral, like a private conversation you couldn't archive.

Snapchat has evolved a lot since those earliest days, adding many tools and capabilities that make it a full-featured messaging app. One thing hasn't changed: it's available only for smartphones, such as Android and iPhone.

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If you want to install Snapchat on your iPad, though, you're not out of luck. You can install iPhone-only apps on your iPad with, so you simply need to install the iPhone version.

How to install Snapchat and other iPhone-only apps on an iPad

1. Start the App Store app on your iPad.

2. Tap the "Search" tab at the bottom of the screen.

3. Type "Snapchat" in the search box at the top of the screen and tap "Search."

4. Tap "Filters" at the top of the screen and then tap "Supports" in the drop-down menu. By default, the App Store only shows you apps made to work with the iPad, but you can tap "iPhone Only" to see iPhone apps which are normally hidden from iPad users.

Dave Johnson/Business Insider

By switching the App Store to show iPhone apps (which also run just fine on the iPad) you can see Snapchat.

5. You should now see Snapchat among the top search results. Tap "GET" or the cloud icon to install it. (If you've previously installed Snapchat on your iPhone, then the cloud icon will appear to indicate you own the app and can re-download it to the iPad.)

After you install Snapchat, it'll run on your iPad, but will run as an "enlarged" version of the iPhone app.

You can choose to run it full-screen or to shrink the app down to the size it would normally appear on the iPhone (with a black border around the app). To do that, tap the arrow button in the lower right corner of the screen.

Dave Johnson/Business Insider

Snapchat, like any iPhone app on iPad, can be run full-screen or at its usual iPhone resolution.