iPad Display two epub files side by side?

[FlorenceArt]

Does anybody know of an iPad app that can display two different ePubs side by side? I'm wondering because I'd like to read Rabelais, and it would be nice to be able to have the original text and the modern French translation side by side.

Could probably be done with split screen (and two different apps), but I don't think that will work on my iPad Air 1.

[kyteflyer]

I'm pretty sure that the capacity to be used in split screen has to be build into the app. I've noticed on my Air 2 that some things can be split, and others not. Maybe if its updated for iOS9 its enough, but I'm really not sure at all.

[kyteflyer]

So I have been trying it on my Air2, and the only things I can seem to get, is either Safari or Mail as the second app when you pull the screen across. I have no idea why this is. I even fully close both apps, and the one which was used most recently will pop up. Havent yet tried with messages. I have a suspicion that only Apple core apps will be able to be seen by the split. Perhaps it will be more generous on the iPad Pro, but so far... meh.

I've tried it with iBooks, and Bluefire. (and then a few other general apps)

[MartyTX]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Could probably be done with split screen (and two different apps), but I don't think that will work on my iPad Air 1.

According to TechRadar:

"Split View is the closest thing there is to computer-grade multitasking on a tablet running iOS 9, and it's only available on the iPad Air 2. It converts the small Slide Out panel into two apps running side by side with equal space. Both are active, with full multitouch support."

Looks like the iPad Air 1 won't work with true split screen; either will my first generation iPad Mini.

[tomsem]

All iPads running iOS 9 support slide Over, where you can slide a second app out to take up 1/3 of the screen (while other app shifts to background). As such it is not 'multitasking', just a way to peek without having to fully switch. I haven't discovered a way to 'promote' the slide out app to full screen, unless the 'slid onto' app supports split screen. That's a little weird. And you can't Slide Out from left side.

For split screen you need an iPad Air 2 or the new iPad mini 4, or soon, iPad Pro. Both apps are foreground and respond to input.

Apps have to implement these features to serve as a slide out app, or to run in split screen. iBooks, for example, supports both.

But only one instance of a given app can run in Split Screen (or run, period). So you can't read two books in iBooks at the same time. The two apps have to be different apps.

When Amazon gets around to updating Kindle app, you will be able to have iBooks and Kindle, etc., but right now I think iBooks is the only reading app that supports these things.

Of course there's no reason a reading app could not implement split window, for viewing two books at the same time, but for some reason nobody has bothered to do that. Or maybe Apple UIG discourages that.

Then there is Picture-in-Picture (again only on iPad Air2, iPad Mini 4, iPad Pro), which lets you run a video or FaceTime session in a PIP window while you do something else (including Slide Out or Split Screen). Again app in question has to implement it to run in the PIP window. The Movie app does this but haven't found any others yet.

I'm surprised there aren't more apps ready to do these things on day one, but maybe the apps are working their way through approval cycle. Microsoft Office apps do 'multitask' with latest update. Good for them!

To me, it is a little underwhelming so far, but more apps need to update to draw any conclusions.

http://www.macrumors.com/2015/09/16/...itasking-ipad/

[kyteflyer]

I've finally got messages and Safari side by side... There are some strange things turning up in the launch list, things I wouldnt expect, like Flickstackr for which I personally would never want in a half screen.

I think how well it works may well be determined also by which app you launch first. Its odd.

[FlorenceArt]

Thank you for the replies! So as I suspected, split view is out for me at the moment, since I don't intend to change my iPad in the near future (I'm keeping an eye out for reviews of the iPad Pro though...).

I agree with you Tomsen, that it's a bit surprising there are no ePub reading apps that support opening two books side by side. And only one (as far as I know) that (imperfect though it is) allows you to see the book's footnotes on the same screen as the main text.

Come to think of it, reading apps have not been very creative so far, have they? They all have basically the same capabilities which are based on paper books capabilities: highlight, annotate, bookmark. Those are great (I would never have dreamed of writing on a paper book myself, and it has been a great experience to learn to do this with e-books), but surely there are other possibilities.

Coming back to my initial question, Side by Side is a nifty little app that allows you to display different contents (text, video or audio, web page) on the same screen. I have used it occasionally to view educational videos and take notes. But unfortunately it doesn't support ePub.

[tomsem]

One issue with Slide Out and Split Screen is that as more apps support it, the longer the list of apps to pick from will be. It looks like most recently selected apps are at the bottom of the list, but otherwise it might be hard to find any given app.

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by tomsem

One issue with Slide Out and Split Screen is that as more apps support it, the longer the list of apps to pick from will be. It looks like most recently selected apps are at the bottom of the list, but otherwise it might be hard to find any given app.

Hopefully we will have some control at one point over the list, as we now do with Open with.

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by tomsem

One issue with Slide Out and Split Screen is that as more apps support it, the longer the list of apps to pick from will be. It looks like most recently selected apps are at the bottom of the list, but otherwise it might be hard to find any given app.

I'm actually getting very frustrated with it, myself. Once I select (for example) safari from the slide out list, I then can't get the slide out list again. I keep getting safar, on the last page I accessed, even if I shut down that page *and* the app. Ditto if it was mail. So I have gven up using it at all. Well, most of the time. Today I have successfully got messages and safari working (with Safari as the first open app)

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

I'm actually getting very frustrated with it, myself. Once I select (for example) safari from the slide out list, I then can't get the slide out list again. I keep getting safar, on the last page I accessed, even if I shut down that page *and* the app. Ditto if it was mail. So I have gven up using it at all. Well, most of the time. Today I have successfully got messages and safari working (with Safari as the first open app)

It seems to work alright for me. To close the app in the side bar you need to swipe down from the very top. That will take you back to the list of sidebar apps/icons.

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by jhowell

It seems to work alright for me. To close the app in the side bar you need to swipe down from the very top. That will take you back to the list of sidebar apps/icons.

Thanks you thank you thank you! I guess I should have done more reading before complaining about it

[FlorenceArt]

In fact there is a reading app that can display two books side by side and does it very well, but unfortunately it's a very specialized app that uses a proprietary format: Olive Tree Bible Study. You can display two different translations, or the Bible text and a commentary. And since the books all have the same structure (book, chapter, verse), the two displays can be synced and move together. Wish something like that was available in Marvin. I also wish Marvin could display one book's notes alongside the text.

[FlorenceArt]

I found a workaround! I simply converted my book into a PDF and am reading it in Side by Side. There is only one book because I chose to buy the original text with notes, but there are so many notes that it's highly impractical to switch back and forth between text and notes. And MarginNotes doesn't display them in a satisfying manner, maybe because there are so many. Anyway, I know it may sound crazy to convert an ePub to a PDF, but this way I may actually be able to read the book

So I have the book opened twice in Side by Side, one side with the text and one with the notes. I even opened a third window to access a Middle French dictionary that I found online, but I'm not sure my screen is big enough to do this comfortably.

[kyteflyer]

I just had a slew of app updates this morning, more and more support for split screen. No ebook readers updates though, and iBooks is already there. Here's something which might be nice for those who care, an app which can be opened twice. Imagine two Marvins side by side. LOL