Two apps at the same time

Which apps work best on split screen?

Most apps can run on split screen, the question is rather which ones are suitable to run.

Published 30 January 2025 - 10:55

If you split the screen between two apps on the mobile, they will each get an almost square window. If you then need to input text in one of the apps, the keyboard will basically cover one of the windows completely if you use the mobile in portrait mode, or leave two small strips for windows if you use it in landscape mode. So, if you are going to split the screen between two apps on a mobile, it works best with apps where you rarely or never need to bring up the keyboard.

On a tablet or foldable mobile with a large screen, however, the format is such that the keyboard can coexist with two open apps without it becoming too cumbersome. This makes it realistic to use several different apps together, for example, a PDF reader and a note-taking app side by side. But even on the mobile, there are apps that can work on half a screen. Google Maps is an example, or Spotify, or a web browser as long as you are just reading and not writing.

Then you also need a reason to want to run these two apps simultaneously on the screen, so that it somehow becomes easier to switch between the apps. Here you need to find your own user scenario where it would be practical, but generally, it's about situations where you might be annoyed by having to jump back and forth between two apps all the time.

This is an excerpt from an article about splitting the screen between multiple apps that was previously published exclusively for Plus members on Mobil.se. Here you can become a Plus member and thereby get direct access to all articles on Mobil.se. As a Plus member, you get collected tips and many other in-depth, guiding articles. You can find the entire article here.