Split View, or split screen, on the iPad and iPhone can be very useful for iPad multitasking, but there are times when you might want to disable the feature on one or all of your devices.
In this article, we’ll teach you how to use iPad Split View, or get rid of it by turning off the feature in the Settings app in iPadOS.
We’ll also cover how to use or turn off split screen on your iPhone. Read on to learn all about how to enable and disable split screen on your iOS 13 and iPadOS devices.
Which iPads Support iPad Split View with iPadOS 13?
To use Split View on your iPad, you’ll need a 5th-generation and later iPad, an iPad Pro, an iPad Air 2 or later, or an iPad mini 4 or later. Also, be sure to update your tablet to iPadOS.
Which iPhones Support Split View with iOS 13?
Split screen for the iPhone is only available for the iPhone 11 Pro Max, and works when it’s being used in landscape mode.
What’s the Difference Between Split View (Split Screen) on the iPhone VS the iPad?
Split Screen operations aren’t quite the same on the iPad and iPhone. For instance, to utilize your extra screen space on your iPhone, you can activate split screen by turning your iPhone on its side.
This automatically activates landscape mode and allows your iPhone’s display to feature more content on a single screen.
Common apps that use split screen on the iPhone include Mail, Calendar, Messages, Stocks, Reminders, Voice Memos, Contacts, Settings, and Clock.
With iPadOS, you can open multiple apps on your iPad and work in those apps simultaneously with the Split View feature. On the iPhone, you can’t open multiple apps; you’re simply using the display space to show more information within one active app.
On the iPad, you can have Safari open on the left side of your screen while taking notes in Notes on the right side.
There is no option, currently, to use iPhone split screen in the same way as the iPad Split View. But what you can do is turn the feature off on the iPad or iPhone.
How to Turn Off Split View (Split Screen) on the iPad
Split View is enabled by default on the iPad. To utilize the feature, drag any app from your dock to the right or left edge of your screen to open the app on a portion of the screen.
If you have multiple apps open and want to close one without turning off the Split View or Multitasking functions in Settings, you can return to a full-screen view of a single app by dragging the app divider to the edge of the screen, over the app you want to remove.
If, however, by “getting rid of Split View on my iPad,” you mean turning the feature off completely, that’s something you can do in Settings. To turn off Split View on the iPad:
- Open the Settings app on your iPad.
- Tap General.
- Select Multitasking & Dock.
- Toggle off Allow Multiple Apps.
- With this setting turned off, you won’t be able to use Slide Over or Split View on your iPad. If you later decide you want to use the feature again, simply toggle Allow Multiple Apps back on.
Want to learn more about multitasking on your iPad? Check out our complete guide.
How to Get Rid of Split Screen in Safari on Your iPad
Split View in Safari on the iPad was a new multitasking feature for iOS 10 that continues in iPadOS. Split View allows you to open two separate Safari web pages simultaneously on your iPad.
To start, open Safari on the iPad and hold your tablet in Landscape Mode. You can then open a second Safari tab in Split View in one of four ways:
- Tap and hold a link in your original web page; select Open in New Window.
- Tap Command N on an external hardware keyboard to invoke Split View.
- Drag a tab from its space to either the left or right side of the screen to open it in Split View.
- Tap and hold the icon that opens your tabs view in Safari; it looks like two overlapping squares. When you tap and hold, options will pop-up. Select Open New Window.
But what if you want to get rid of Split View in Safari? What if you’re done using the two tabs—how do you turn Split View on the iPad off? To close Split View in Safari on your iPad, you can do one of the following things:
- Drag the tab(s) from one of the screens to the other. Once the last tab has been dragged to the opposite side, Safari will return to full screen, which will turn off Split View. It’s important to drag the entire tab, not the link, to cover the other tab. If you drag the link, all that will happen is that you’ll copy and paste the web address into the other side of Split View.
- Or, you can tap and hold the tabs icon, which looks like two overlapping squares. Then select Merge All Windows. This will merge all your Safari tabs back into a single window, which gets rid of Split View.
Split Screen on the iPhone & How to Turn it Off
While Split View on the iPad allows you to have multiple apps open, split screen on the iPhone simply allows you to utilize the extra screen space to display more information.
Some people like the use of this extra screen space, but you can also choose to turn off split screen on your iPhone. Check out some of the split screen examples below; then, we’ll go over how to get rid of it everywhere at once.
Split view in Mail on iPhone allows you to read emails while looking at your Inbox. If you love Mail on your iPad or Mac, you’ll appreciate split screen on iPhone. Unlike the rest of the apps we use as examples, you can turn off the split screen view in Mail.
- If you prefer to see only the open email, tap the full-screen icon in the upper right of the email, and the split screen view will disappear.
- Tap the name of the inbox in the upper-left corner to return to split screen.
Calendar
Split screen in the Calendar app on iPhone shows you your daily, weekly, or monthly schedule and event details simultaneously. There is no way to turn off split screen within the Calendar app.
Messages
Similar to Mail, Messages shows you your list of messages and the current one you’re replying to in landscape mode. There is no way to turn off split screen within the Messages app.
To Turn Off Split Screen on the iPhone
If you’d like to turn off all instances of split screen, then you can turn off the split view feature by following the steps below.
Keep in mind that you will also lose other features like the landscape-oriented home screen and the extra buttons on your keyboards, but it will turn split screen off in all of your apps.
- Open the Settings app and tap Display & Brightness.
- Select View.
- Tap Zoomed, then tap Set.
- Confirm Use Zoomed; a message will inform you that changing the display will restart your iPhone.
Once your iPhone has restarted, you should no longer see the split screen in your apps. Instead, you will see one big window when you hold your iPhone horizontally.
