Pages cannot do split view for two documents?

Question

Pages cannot do split view for two documents?

I have a MacBook Pro (2015) with macos beta Sierra (though this happened with the non beta El Capitan.

I cannot ever get two pages documents to work in split view. Ever. It is infuriating as an editor. Can anyone help? I want to see two documents side by side.

I hit the green full page button and drag it to the side, when I click another opened pages do it says "split view not available"

what.the.heck.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch,Early 2015), OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Sep 7, 2016 2:47 PM

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Answer 1

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,980 points

Sep 7, 2016 4:37 PM in response to James McKinstry

This is not a beta support site, and the terms of use for these open Apple support communities prevents us from discussions about beta products. Secondarily, you are attempting to use a released version of Pages on a beta release of OS X, and there is no assurance that split view is currently working correctly on that beta product, or that the released version of Pages is entirely compatible with it either.

You can open the same document in Pages twice, and position side-by-side, providing the documents are not opened from the same exact location in the filesystem. In El Capitan, I have no issue placing a first Pages document into Split-view, and then clicking on the second to have it fill the other half of the screen.

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Answer 2

Sep 7, 2016 7:34 PM in response to James McKinstry

What Split View? What version of Pages?

Are you talking in Finder? because there is none in Pages 5 to my knowledge.

This is the Help instructions:

Use two apps in Split View

Some apps don’t support Split View.

In the top-left corner of an app window, click and hold the green button, drag the window to the side you want, then release the button.
On the other side of the screen, click the second app you want to work with.
In Split View, do any of the following:
- Resize the windows: Drag the separator bar that’s in the middle to the left or right.
- Change sides: Use a window’s toolbar to drag the window to the other side. If you don’t see a toolbar, click the window, then move the pointer to the top of the screen.
- Show and hide the menu bar: Move the pointer to or away from the top of the screen to access an app’s menus.
- Show and hide the Dock: Move the pointer to or away from the bottom or side of the screen, depending on the Dock’s location.
To stop using an app in Split View, click its window, show the menu bar, then click the green button in the window’s top-left corner, or press Control-Command-F. The remaining app expands to full screen and can be accessed in the Spaces bar. To stop using the app full screen, move the pointer over its thumbnail in the Spaces bar, then click the Delete button that appears in the top-left corner of the thumbnail.

Tip: If you’re already working with an app full screen, you can quickly choose another app to work with in Split View. Press Control-Up Arrow or swipe up with three fingers to enter Mission Control, then drag a window from Mission Control onto the thumbnail of the full-screen app in the Spaces bar. You can also drag one app thumbnail onto another in the Spaces bar.

It appears to be designed for 2 Different Apps, and as it says some Apps don't support it. If you attempt to drag the Pages green button, it does nothing. Same in TextEdit, same in Preview and Safari. I figured Photos is a new App it will do it, but no.

In fact I haven't found any App where it works as described. Seems to me it is a broken feature.

Peter

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Answer 3

Sep 7, 2016 9:49 PM in response to James McKinstry

I know how to do it, I have done it with other programs. I can do split view safari, email, keynote, and numbers. But I CANNOT do it, nor have I ever been able to do it- in pages or preview. I can split view with other kinds of programs but I should be able to to do split view with to pages documents- just like you can in Microsoft for YEARS.

I have the newest version of pages- but it has never worked for me. not even when I had Yosemite last year. I am well aware of what we can and cannot say about the beta program- I am only asking if it has ever worked for anyone. I never asked if you have the beta and tell people all about it. I just want split view to work, it has never worked with pages or preview.

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Answer 4

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,980 points

Sep 8, 2016 4:40 AM in response to James McKinstry

In my response above, I launched the same document from different filesystem locations so that I had two instances on screen. I closed the side panel and thumbnails on both, and reduced the width slightly on each. Then, I put the first instance into split-view, and just clicked on the document body of the second, and it filled the remaining adjacent space. That may be as good as one can expect. Try it.

According to the Sept 7 Apple event, there will be forthcoming “enhancements to the iWork” application family for macOS Sierra.

It is not a design goal for Apple to create a “just like Microsoft” operating system, or application experience. There remains a great deal of frustration for Mac switchers that expect Pages to be a Word clone, or the Apple Finder to be more like Windows Explorer.

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Answer 5

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,420 points

Sep 9, 2016 9:49 PM in response to James McKinstry

James McKinstry wrote:

I am only asking if it has ever worked for anyone.

No problem for me. See this other discussion of the same topic. The problem was solved there by changing screen resolution I think.

is there a document split screen on pages for macbook pro

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Answer 6

Sep 8, 2016 2:49 PM in response to VikingOSX

I do not want to do the same document, I want to do one that has been edited to compare with a version that has not. For me it does not matter where the files are located- I just have to resize the windows like it was 1989. Whereas I can enjoy a simple split view only when using the other two iwork apps, and the rest of the Macos line minus preview.

I am not a Mac switcher- I have been on it for 20 some years. Apple has their own ideas but occasionally borrows from others as others borrow from them. A perfect version of spilt view should have happened by now. A user should not have to move files to different locations or change their resolution to use an Apple feature with an Apple app.

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Answer 7

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,980 points

Sep 8, 2016 4:10 PM in response to James McKinstry

Pages won't open the same named document twice without one copy residing elsewhere in the filesystem. In your case, you would have two different named Pages documents in the same location, and Pages will open them in distinct document windows. That should be all you need to achieve split-view, using my previous approach.

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Answer 8

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,420 points

Sep 9, 2016 7:10 AM in response to James McKinstry

Did you read the other thread I gave the link to? I’m puzzled that you are not able to make this work like the rest of us can.

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Answer 9

Sep 9, 2016 9:48 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

the changing of the resolution is what did it. that is frustrating because I liked it the way it was, and am truly puzzled as to why I could get numbers and keynote to work at the default resolution, but not pages.

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Answer 10

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,420 points

Sep 10, 2016 4:42 AM in response to James McKinstry

It may be that Apple is not very aware of this problem. I suggest you report it too them, with details about your screen type and the resolution settings which do not work, via

http://www.apple.com/feedback

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