GoodNotes + YouTube Split View on iPad: Full Guide

You can use GoodNotes and YouTube together in Split View on iPad by opening one app, swiping up from the bottom to the dock, then dragging the second app to the left or right edge of the screen until it snaps into place beside the first.

Once you have both apps running side by side, you have a genuinely powerful setup — a video playing on one side and a blank notebook page waiting on the other. The combination works because YouTube delivers the content and GoodNotes gives you a friction-free way to respond to it with your Apple Pencil or keyboard, without ever switching screens.

Why GoodNotes and YouTube work well together

This particular pairing earns its screen real estate in a few specific situations:

• Online course notes: Watch a lecture or tutorial on YouTube and write structured notes, diagrams, or timestamps in GoodNotes at the same time. You can pause, rewind, and annotate without losing your place in either app.
• Sketch-along tutorials: Artists and designers can follow a drawing or design tutorial on YouTube while working directly in a GoodNotes notebook, referencing the video frame by frame.
• Language learning: Play a YouTube video in your target language, then write vocabulary, phrases, or grammar notes in GoodNotes as you listen — a much faster loop than alt-tabbing between apps.

The key advantage over just watching and then writing later is that your notes stay connected to the moment. You catch things you would otherwise forget by the time you opened a separate app.

How to set it up with Splicon

The one frustration with iPad Split View is that you have to rebuild the combination every time you want it. Splicon fixes that by turning any two-app pair into a single Home Screen shortcut with a custom icon that shows both apps side by side.

If you haven't already, Download Splicon free from the App Store before working through the steps below.

1. Open Splicon and select your app pair. Search for GoodNotes and YouTube within the app, then select them as your combination. Splicon will show you a preview of how the paired icon will look.
2. Choose a split style and save the icon. Pick the layout that reflects how you prefer to arrange the two apps — GoodNotes on the left or right, equal or unequal split. Generate the icon and save it to your Photos library.
3. Set up the shortcut in the Shortcuts app. Open the Shortcuts app, create a new shortcut, and add an "Open App" action configured for Split View with GoodNotes and YouTube as the two apps. When prompted to choose an icon for the shortcut, select the image you just saved from Splicon.
4. Add the shortcut to your Home Screen. Tap the shortcut's settings, choose "Add to Home Screen," and place it wherever makes sense — a study page, a creativity folder, or right on your main screen.

From that point on, one tap opens both apps exactly as you configured them, without any dragging or docking required.

A few practical tips

Keep GoodNotes on the wider side of the split if you're writing long-form notes — the extra horizontal space makes handwriting recognition and keyboard input noticeably more comfortable. For sketch-along sessions, flip it so YouTube gets the larger pane and GoodNotes sits narrower on the side as a reference canvas.

If you use GoodNotes templates, create a dedicated "video notes" template with a timestamp column on the left margin. It takes about two minutes to set up and makes your notes far easier to review afterward.