SplitView

<SplitView> is an iOS-only container component that gives you a declarative UISplitViewController and exposes its modern multi-column capabilities to NativeScript apps. It lets you coordinate up to four roles:

• primary – main navigation or master content
• secondary – detail view for the selected item
• supplementary – contextual / side content
• inspector – tool / inspector pane available on iOS 17+ when the system supports it

Each role is typically provided by a child <Frame> so that every column can manage its own navigation stack independently, while still being part of the same split view controller. This mirrors how native iPadOS apps structure complex layouts.

Example ​

Declarative XML ​

<SplitView
  displayMode="twoBesideSecondary"
  splitBehavior="tile"
  preferredPrimaryColumnWidthFraction="0.25"
  preferredSupplementaryColumnWidthFraction="0.33"
  preferredInspectorColumnWidthFraction="0.20">

  <Frame splitRole="primary" defaultPage="pages/master" />
  <Frame splitRole="secondary" defaultPage="pages/detail" />
  <Frame splitRole="supplementary" defaultPage="pages/context" />
  <Frame splitRole="inspector" defaultPage="pages/inspector" />
</SplitView>

This configures a 3–4 column layout (depending on OS support) and assigns each role to its own frame.

Programmatic ​

import { SplitView } from '@nativescript/core'

const splitView = new SplitView()
splitView.displayMode = 'twoBesideSecondary'
splitView.splitBehavior = 'tile'
splitView.preferredPrimaryColumnWidthFraction = 0.25

// create frames with splitRole before adding them

With inspector change listener ​

splitView.on('inspectorChange', ({ data }) => {
  console.log('Inspector visible?', data.showing)
})

Fired whenever the inspector column is shown or hidden.

Concepts ​

Roles ​

SplitView coordinates roles rather than arbitrary children. Children declare their intended role:

<Frame splitRole="primary" />
<Frame splitRole="secondary" />
<Frame splitRole="supplementary" />
<Frame splitRole="inspector" />

If a role is omitted, SplitView falls back to the order in which children were added. However, declaring the role is recommended for clarity and for future layout changes.

Column styles ​

The underlying controller can operate in double or triple column styles. SplitView exposes this through a common enum:

• SplitView.SplitStyle.double
• SplitView.SplitStyle.triple

iOS chooses the right UISplitViewControllerStyle for you. On iOS 17+ an inspector column can also be shown. citeturn2view0

Props ​

displayMode ​

displayMode:
  | 'automatic'
  | 'secondaryOnly'
  | 'oneBesideSecondary'
  | 'oneOverSecondary'
  | 'twoBesideSecondary'
  | 'twoOverSecondary'
  | 'twoDisplaceSecondary'

Maps to [UISplitViewController.preferredDisplayMode]. Determines how the primary/supplementary columns relate to the secondary column (beside vs over vs displaced).

splitBehavior (iOS 14+) ​

splitBehavior: 'automatic' | 'tile' | 'overlay' | 'displace'

Maps to UISplitViewController.preferredSplitBehavior. Controls how columns behave when the size class changes (for example overlaying instead of resizing). iOS 14 or newer is required.

preferredPrimaryColumnWidthFraction ​

preferredPrimaryColumnWidthFraction: number // 0..1

Fractional width for the primary column (for example 0.25 = 25%).

preferredSupplementaryColumnWidthFraction ​

preferredSupplementaryColumnWidthFraction: number // 0..1

Used in triple-column style to reserve width for the supplementary column.

preferredInspectorColumnWidthFraction ​

preferredInspectorColumnWidthFraction: number // 0..1

Width fraction for the inspector column, applied only when the platform supports the inspector role (iOS 17+). On earlier versions this is safely ignored.

inspectorShowing (readonly) ​

inspectorShowing: boolean

Current visibility state of the inspector column. Helpful to sync UI buttons with the actual split view state.

Static members ​

SplitView.getInstance() ​

const active = SplitView.getInstance()

Returns the last created SplitView instance, or null if none exists. This is a convenience for apps that only ever use a single SplitView and want to access it imperatively (for example, from a service).

SplitView.SplitStyle ​

const { SplitStyle } = SplitView

Common enum representing double vs triple column styles. The iOS implementation maps this to the proper UISplitViewController style.

Methods ​

showPrimary() / hidePrimary() ​

splitView.showPrimary()
splitView.hidePrimary()

Shows or hides the primary column. Useful on compact width or when presenting master-detail flows modally.

showSecondary() / hideSecondary() ​

splitView.showSecondary()
splitView.hideSecondary()

Controls the visibility of the secondary column.

showSupplementary() ​

splitView.showSupplementary()

Ensures the supplementary column is visible when the display mode allows it. Hiding is typically handled automatically by the display mode.

showInspector() / hideInspector() ​

splitView.showInspector()
splitView.hideInspector()

Toggles the inspector column (iOS 17+). Calls are no-ops on platforms/versions where inspector is not available.

onSecondaryViewCollapsed(secondaryVC, primaryVC) ​

Lifecycle hook invoked when the system collapses the secondary onto the primary (for example, when moving to a compact size). Override in subclasses or listen at the NativeScript level to adjust your UI.

Events ​

inspectorChange ​

splitView.on('inspectorChange', (args) => {
  console.log('Inspector visible?', args.data.showing)
})

Emitted whenever the inspector column changes visibility. Payload contains a data.showing: boolean.

Platform notes ​

• Platform: iOS only (backed by UISplitViewController).
• splitBehavior: requires iOS 14+.
• Inspector: requires iOS 17+. On earlier versions the property is ignored and inspector-related methods are safe no-ops.

Native component ​

• iOS: UISplitViewController