App groups

How to create a shortcut to open two apps simultaneously on the screen

You can create an app group that you can use to quickly open two apps on the same screen. Here's how to do it.

Published 27 January 2025 - 10:06

Once you have split the screen between two apps, they appear in the multitask menu as a separate window where two apps are running. It may not feel entirely intuitive, but it helps because you don't have to split the screen repeatedly if you switch to another app in between.

If there are two apps you often run side by side, you can make it even easier for yourself by simply creating a shortcut to open these two apps with a split window.

iPad: On iPad, you create a window with two apps using the Shortcuts app. Go into this app and press the plus sign. In the search field, type in splitscreen and select Splitscreen apps. On the main screen, you will then get the text "split the screen between App and App." You click on the text "app" to choose the two apps to be opened. Then press the i-symbol on the screen near the upper right corner of the screen and select "Add to Home Screen." Then you can give the shortcut a name and an icon. Then choose add, and you have a shortcut to the two apps you selected, side by side on the screen.

Android: With Android 15, there is built-in support for creating a shortcut to a group with two apps at the same time, but most of us don't have Android 15 yet. However, there are third-party solutions. We recommend the app Be Nice, which is free and ad-free.

You start the app Be Nice and press plus. Then you simply choose the first app and the second app, and save your shortcut on the home screen.

Google Pixel: In Google's Pixel phones, there is a quick and easy shortcut to save an app group, which will become a standard feature in Android 15 for tablets and foldable phones. You go into the multitask menu and scroll to a group of apps you are running. Press the icons at the top and select “Save app pair,” and the group will appear on your home screens.

Samsung: On a Samsung phone, you can press the three dots on the divider when you are running two apps simultaneously on the screen. Then press the star, and you can save the app group on your home screens.