Split View Support is Coming to Microsoft Edge for iOS
- Paul Thurrott
- Jun 15, 2018
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The latest beta build of Microsoft Edge for iOS adds support for the mobile platform’s split view feature. This will make it a better multitasker on iPad.
To be clear, this functionality isn’t yet available in the publicly-available version of Microsoft Edge in Apple’s App Store. Instead, it’s available through the Microsoft Edge Beta, which is installed and update through Apple’s TestFlight system. I’m on the Beta version, so I am able to check out this functionality early.
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As you may know, Microsoft has been aggressively updating Edge on mobile in recent months. It was updated with Timeline support on both platforms in April, and with ebook support more recently.
Split view is, of course, an iOS-specific feature, so it makes sense that Microsoft would add this feature on that platform, if belatedly: Split view has been around for years, and with last year’s iOS 11 release it picked up a related feature called Slide Over. As I’ve written in the past, iOS 11’s multitasking features are a mess. It makes using an iPad Pro for work difficult.
(Android does support its own kind of split view functionality, called split screen. And looking at Edge on Android, it appears to work fine there too.)
On my iPad Pro (10.5-inch), Microsoft Edge Beta appears to work normally in each of the three split view orientations. (You can divide the screen equally between two apps or give either one of them about two-thirds of the screen.)
Microsoft Edge also supports iOS 11’s Slide Over feature, though I believe that’s not new.
Other improvements in this release, which is Microsoft Edge 42.2, include:
- Add or edit the top sites on the new tab page
- Sync progress indicator for favorites and reading list
- See organization-managed favorites and internal web apps on Intune-managed work and school accounts
- Fixed an issue where some Bing users were not getting rewards for using Edge
- A better book reading experience, including the ability to see/add bookmarks and to change text spacing.
- Performance improvements.
I expect to see this version of Microsoft Edge in the public App Store very soon.