Our long national Google Docs and Sheets Split View nightmare is over

This might deserve a "finally": Google Docs and Sheets now support Split View, a mere 10 months and 30 days after the iOS 9 feature appeared for iPad users.

I wrote about Google's second-class app citizenry back in January of 2016, citing the lack of Google updates as one of the big issues holding me back from committing to the iPad Pro to write full-time; while the company has made strides forward in improving its iOS apps, it was still missing a key component of true iPad multitasking: Split View.

That nightmare is now over, though officially only for users of iOS 9 — both apps' developer notes include the phrase "support on iPads running iOS 9", but I've been able to get devices both on the latest public beta and developer beta seed working with Split Screen. (After, it should be noted, a full iPad restart.)

There's still a lot I'd like to see from these apps — there's still no way to highlight multiple cells with keyboard commands, for example — but Split View is a huge step forward for the apps, and a step much appreciated by iPad users around the globe.

Serenity was formerly the Managing Editor at iMore, and now works for Apple. She's been talking, writing about, and tinkering with Apple products since she was old enough to double-click. In her spare time, she sketches, sings, and in her secret superhero life, plays roller derby. Follow her on Twitter @settern.