When Apple first introduced Split View multitasking for iOS 9 back in 2015, it was heralded as a big deal for mobile devices. The continued development of the iPad as a substitute for laptops (what’s a computer?) also meant that the reliance on Split View multitasking grew through the years—although not every app supported the functionality at first.
And now, Google has finally announced that Split View multitasking support is coming to Gmail for iPad after five long years. In case you aren’t familiar with the iOS multitasking feature, you’ll need to drag an app out of the dock and slide it to the left/right of your screen—while having another app open.
Split View will work with Gmail alongside other supported iOS applications. For example, you’ll be able to view Gmail and Google Chrome windows side-by-side, or even drag photos from one application to the other via Split View. To be utterly frank, the feature has been around (and widely used) for a long time now, and I can’t understand what has taken Google this long to bring over support for the iPad.
For now, this means that multitasking is now supported on a number of Google’s popular apps. There’s Docs, Sheets, and Slides, as well as YouTube and Chrome—so the addition of Split View to Gmail for iPad has certainly been a long, long time coming.
You won’t need to actually enable the feature; it’s on by default. However, if you’ve managed to somehow disable multitasking on your iPad, head over to Settings > Home Screen & Dock > Multitasking, and select “Allow Multiple Apps”.
The feature is now available to all users, so be sure to check the App Store on your iPad to update to the latest version of the Gmail for iPad. To find out more, click here.
