Two Apps on the Same Screen

How to Split the Screen Between Two Apps

If you have an iPad or a mobile or tablet with Android, you can have two apps on the screen at the same time. We explain how to do it on your specific mobile or tablet.

Published 2 February 2025 - 21:50

iPad OS and Android have several ways to activate the function to split the screen between two apps. In addition, many Android manufacturers have included quick shortcuts to make it easier to split the screen in two. The advantage is that you can find a way that suits you to easily split the screen. The disadvantage is partly that it becomes harder to remember when there is no standard way, and partly that you risk splitting the screen by mistake when making an unintentional gesture. Therefore, it's good to know how to split the screen on your specific device. Here we go through the different ways to split the screen by system and manufacturer.

iPad

How to do it

When you run an app, there are three small dots in the middle of the top of the screen. This is the menu for running multiple apps. You can choose between Split View and Slide Over. Split View means the screen is split between two apps, side by side, while if you choose Slide Over, one app ends up in a floating window with the other app behind.

Regardless of which you choose, the app you have open is minimized and you see the home screen behind it, allowing you to choose which app to open as the second app.

When you have two apps open, you get a divider with a symbol in the middle. You can drag it to the right or left to choose in fixed steps how much space the two apps should have on the screen. If you want to close one of the apps, you can do so in the menu with the three dots, or by swiping away one of the windows completely when you drag the divider.

An alternative way

You can use the Dock, which is the row of apps at the bottom of the screen, to split the screen between two apps. When you have an app open, you can gently swipe up from the bottom of the screen to bring up the Dock. Then choose one of the apps by tapping on it and dragging it up onto the screen. It will position itself to the left or right or as a floating window depending on where you drag it.

If the app you want to open is not visible in the list of apps, you can access more by opening the app library, the icon furthest to the right in the Dock.

Drag and Drop

Depending on which apps you have open next to each other, you can drag and drop content on the iPad. Apple gives examples such as dragging text from Safari to a note, an image from Photos to an email, or a calendar invitation to a text message. You press and hold on what you want to drag and drop until it appears to lift slightly from the app, then drag it over to the other app. You can select multiple images by pressing and dragging on one, then continue to hold it while you tap on several images with another finger.

Android

How to do it

Enter the multitask menu, either by pressing the square button at the bottom of the screen, or if you are using swipe gestures, swipe up and hold from the bottom of the screen.

In the list of running apps, tap the app icon and select split screen. On Xiaomi devices, you need to press and hold the icon, and the split screen option appears as a symbol without text. On Oneplus, you need to tap the symbol with three dots next to the icon.

Then select the second app to open. Depending on the system version, you may either get the app library or you can only choose from the apps in the multitask menu. In the latter case, you need to make sure to have started both apps you want to run in advance so that they are in the multitask menu.

The two apps you selected open on each half of the screen. Above each other if you hold the phone vertically, or next to each other in landscape mode. If you need to type something, the on-screen keyboard opens and almost completely covers the lower app in portrait mode. If you split the screen in landscape mode, you get the keyboard in a floating window. It's still in the way, but you can move it around to where it's less obstructive. On a Samsung phone, you need to go into the keyboard settings and select floating keyboard so that it doesn't cover both windows completely.

You can drag the separator between the two windows seamlessly so that one window gets more space and the other less.

Floating windows

You can also choose to open an app in a floating window, also called a pop-up window. This feature is not available on Google's Pixel phones, but on most other Android phones we have tested. You start an app in a pop-up window in the same way as you split the screen between two apps. The option called floating window, pop-up, or similar is next to the option for split screen.

With floating windows, you get the app in a smaller window that does not cover the entire screen. You can drag it to adjust the size and move it around like a window on a computer. Most apps do not work particularly well in floating windows because the content becomes quite small, but if, for example, you are going to use the calculator app, it works well in a floating window above what you are otherwise working with.

Alternative methods

Android's standard method for splitting the screen between two apps is not very smooth, and several manufacturers have therefore added alternative methods as shortcuts to split the screen between two apps. These work in addition to Google's standard method.

Samsung: Samsung has swipe gestures to split the screen between apps or open them in pop-up view. These used to be enabled by default, but since they were easy to access by mistake if you weren't aware of them, they are now off by default in the latest version of One UI. To turn them on (or off if they bother you), go into settings and select advanced settings/Multiple windows and toggle the swipe gestures on or off.

If the gestures are enabled, swipe up with two fingers from the bottom of the screen so that the app you have open is placed on the top half of the screen, and you can open another app below. If you swipe from one of the top corners of the screen towards the center, the app will appear in a pop-up window.

If you use the edge panel on your Samsung phone, you can also drag the app you want to start to the upper or lower half of the screen to share it with another app.

Sony: Sony also has buttons to split the screen between apps at the bottom of the multitask menu where they are more visible than under the icon for each app. If you use the Side Sense menu, which allows you to swipe out a menu from the side of the screen, you can add combinations of apps that open on a split screen here.

Oneplus: On Oneplus tablets, and on the foldable phone Oneplus Open, you can easily split the screen between two apps by swiping from the top of the screen with two fingers. This feature is not available on other Oneplus phones. If you find this shortcut annoying because you often trigger it by mistake, you can turn it off by going into the settings and selecting special features/dual windows.

Motorola: If you use three-button navigation instead of swipe navigation, you can enable a shortcut to split the screen between two apps. Go into settings, select gestures, and swipe to split. Once activated, you can split the screen between two apps by swiping your finger back and forth sideways across the screen.

Xiaomi: If you have a tablet from Xiaomi, you can easily split the screen between two apps by swiping with three fingers from the side of the screen. This feature is not available on Xiaomi's phones.