Pages + Safari Split View on iPad: The Complete Guide

To use Pages and Safari in Split View on iPad, open Safari, swipe up slightly to reveal the Dock, then drag the Pages icon to the left or right edge of the screen until the display divides into two panels.

Once the two apps are sitting side by side, you have a genuinely powerful writing and research station on a single screen. Here is why this particular combination earns its place.

Why Pages and Safari belong side by side

Most writing involves switching back and forth between a source and a draft. Doing that on a single full-screen app means constant context-switching — you lose your place, lose your train of thought, and waste time. Putting Pages and Safari next to each other removes that friction entirely.

Here are three workflows where the pair pays off:

• Academic writing and citation: Keep a journal article, Wikipedia entry, or research paper open in Safari while you draft in Pages. Copy a quote, flip left, paste it, and keep writing without ever leaving your document.
• Content creation from a brief: When a client sends a brief as a web link or Google Doc in the browser, you can read it in Safari while building the actual deliverable in Pages — no toggling, no forgetting what you just read.
• Fact-checking while editing: During a second draft, you can quickly verify names, dates, or figures in Safari without closing your Pages document or losing your editing position.

The drag-to-select ratio on iPad also makes this comfortable for longer sessions. You can widen Pages for heavy writing stretches, then drag the divider back toward the center when you need more browser space for reading.

How to set it up with Splicon

The one limitation of the native Split View approach is that you have to rebuild the combination every time. If you close an app or restart your iPad, the pair is gone. Splicon fixes that by turning any two-app Split View combination into a single Home Screen shortcut with a custom icon showing both apps side by side.

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

1. Open Splicon and use the search field to find Pages, then Safari. Select them as your pair. Splicon displays them as a combined split-style preview so you can see exactly how the icon will look.
2. Choose a split style — centered divider, angled, or offset — then tap Generate. Save the resulting icon image to your Photos library.
3. Open the Shortcuts app, create a new shortcut, and add an "Open App" action. Set the action to open Pages in Split View with Safari. When prompted to choose a Home Screen icon, select the image you 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 in your workflow.

Now a single tap on that icon launches both apps at once, already arranged in Split View, with no dragging or Dock hunting required.

A few practical tips

The 50/50 split works well when you are actively reading and writing in parallel. If you are mostly writing and only occasionally referencing Safari, drag the divider to give Pages roughly two-thirds of the screen — it makes the keyboard and document feel much less cramped.

For longer research sessions, consider turning on Reader View in Safari (tap the Reader icon in the address bar) to strip away navigation bars and ads. The cleaner layout makes it easier to read in the narrower split panel without constantly scrolling past clutter.

Pages and Safari together cover a surprising range of productive work on iPad. With a Splicon shortcut on your Home Screen, the setup cost drops to zero every time you need them.