Double-Page View / Split View / Side-by-side View
As a professional musician, GoodNotes is almost perfect for viewing and marking up sheet music both during rehearsals and performances! In my circle of friends and colleagues, GoodNotes is really becoming our go-to app! We unanimously agree that the only feature that is missing for viewing sheet music is the ability to view two pages at once (like an open book or in Mac's Preview "double-page viewing"). Is it possible that I'm just not seeing this feature?
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We’re excited to announce that we have completed this feature. It is now available in the update GoodNotes 5.3 for iPadOS (13.1).
With the update, we added full support for iPadOS’ multiple windows. It lets you do much more than viewing two documents side by side. To read everything you need to know about opening multiple documents, please visit goodnotes.com/ipad-os.
How to open a new window:
You can now open GoodNotes in multiple windows to view two documents side by side, view two pages of the same document in Split View, or pair it with other apps in spaces across your entire system. To open a new window, drag any of the elements listed below to the side of your screen:
- the app icon from the dock
- documents from the library
- folders from the library
- individual pages from the document thumbnail view
- tabs from the tab-bar
You can also use the buttons in the library action menu or from the tab-bar to open a new window.
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A. commented
With the double-sided view, the illusion of a book could be created. Leafing through books, notes, planners, etc. would be more intuitive, and viewing double-sided documents would be easier. This would also be a unique selling point that appeals to those who prefer real books.
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Kristelle commented
Not opening the same book in different windows. One window, showing 2 consecutive pages. Just like an open book. This is a great tool especially when using my iPad in landscape mode.
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송수린 commented
Two-page display mode please please please
like a real book
It helps me a lot when reading pdfs -
Miriam Denciger commented
It would be incredibly helpful to have a side-by-side (spread) view option within notebooks — allowing users to see two consecutive pages at once when the iPad is in landscape orientation. This would mirror the experience of a physical journal or planner and be especially useful for:
Monthly calendar spreads
Bullet journal layouts
Notebook-style text and note comparisons
Weekly overviews with planning on one side and notes or tasks on the other
When in portrait mode, the notebook should remain in single-page view, preserving the traditional scrolling format. But in landscape, the side-by-side view would offer a more natural and fluid way to interact with two-page layouts, just like flipping open a physical book.
This would enhance usability for anyone who designs or uses their notebooks with symmetry in mind, and would make Goodnotes even more powerful for digital planning, journaling, and study.
Thank you for considering this!
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Miriam Denciger commented
It would be incredibly helpful to have a side-by-side (spread) view option within notebooks — allowing users to see two consecutive pages at once when the iPad is in landscape orientation. This would mirror the experience of a physical journal or planner and be especially useful for:
Monthly calendar spreads
Bullet journal layouts
Notebook-style text and note comparisons
Weekly overviews with planning on one side and notes or tasks on the other
When in portrait mode, the notebook should remain in single-page view, preserving the traditional scrolling format. But in landscape, the side-by-side view would offer a more natural and fluid way to interact with two-page layouts, just like flipping open a physical book.
This would enhance usability for anyone who designs or uses their notebooks with symmetry in mind, and would make Goodnotes even more powerful for digital planning, journaling, and study.
Thank you for considering this!
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Tahra Veasley commented
I’m using this on my iPad as a stage manager. Can we add the option on imported pages to have two pages per screen or like a book mode? I need one page to read the script and the next page to take notes on said script .
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kare herr commented
two-page view, like an open book. so you can see more at once
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Cayden Renich commented
Insisting users can open two windows for two page view is laughably out of touch. Give us two-page view in the same window so we can comfortably scroll, save power, and run on less powerful devices. It's astonishing that this feature is still missing.
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Liam H commented
I would like to have a feature that allows you to open multiple documents in one window. So that if you use split screen you could, for an example have your textbook on the left side of the screen and on the right side on the top a document and on the bottom another document.
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Juan Antonio commented
2 consecutive pages in the same note window, otherwise you need to scroll both windows to have the view that you need, this is doesn't seem to be too complicated.
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GB W commented
Dear GoodNotes Team,
I would love to have the ability to view 2 pages side by side when using the app in landscape mode. Additionally, it would be even better if the 2 page view could support vertical scrolling. Currently, GoodNotes only allows viewing 1 page at a time in landscape mode, which feels quite restrictive when working with multi-page documents.
I noticed that the GoodNotes team suggests using Split View or Stage Manager to open two instances of GoodNotes and view 2 pages simultaneously. However, this approach comes with several inconveniences. Managing 2 separate app windows makes navigation and annotation less seamless compared to a native 2 page view mode.
Additionally, I use another note-taking application called Notes+, which already provides the ability to view 2 pages at once and supports vertical scrolling for 2 page layouts. I have attached screenshots of this feature as a reference, and I hope you will consider implementing something similar in GoodNotes in the future.
This feature would greatly enhance productivity, especially for users who frequently reference multiple pages at once, such as students, researchers, and professionals. I sincerely hope you will consider adding this functionality in a future update.
Thank you for continuously improving GoodNotes and for taking user feedback into account. I look forward to seeing what’s next!
Best regards,
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Nicolas Villamil commented
Allow users to view four or more pages at once, like in PDF Expert.
This would make it easier to compare notes, review past pages while writing, and navigate long documents faster. Options like a 2x2 grid or continuous multi-page scrolling would improve productivity.
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kaitlyn
commented
viewing two pages at once, eg. p1 and 2, p.13 and 14 together would make convenient for doing questions that continue to the next page/ plotting graphs/ reading comprehension, so no constant flipping back and forth to search for answers
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Tony Schmidt commented
Missed the point BY A MILE HOLY HOW BAD IS THAT DOUBLE WINDOW SH**
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Hasan kahhaleh commented
As you can see this has been requested for a long time now and I can see people still want this feature although you developed the split view because it is not the same. so hopefully you would listen to us this year
why it is important ?
First of some people need it for photographic memory like studying from an actual booksecond of all you can add a page just next to the one you are reading and add quick notes easily with the same pen and everything looks smooth and nice not dealing with two small windows and all that fuss
finally it has existed on other apps and programs millions of years ago.
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tsz wang Ko commented
Hi,
I would agree with Shifa. I really like seeing 2 pages at once, not only for note taking, but also as a musician, it's really useful to be able to see 2 pages at once. I am finding myself switching to other less popular applications because of that, albeit their note taking experience is not as good. So I guess it is a very important feature for people like me.
Thanks! I do hope this feature will make it to your future road map!
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邓杨凡 commented
the free app had this function。i hope goodnotes could also make it!
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Shifa Haji commented
Hello!
I love using GoodNotes, but there’s something that’s been bothering me. Could you please add a feature for two-page or multiple-page view? It’s such a basic and essential feature, yet this advanced app doesn’t have it! I know we can use Split View, but it’s not the same as having a dedicated two-page or multiple-page viewing feature. Please consider adding this in future updates.
Thank you!
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Charu commented
please add the basic feature of viewing 2 pages a time on the screen side by side with vertical scrolling. this feature helps the reader get holistic view of the document easily.
i have attached screen recording for the same
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paperfrog commented
It is literally so embarrassing for a company playing at note-taking monopoly to not have a feature as basic as two-page view.