The split view feature is amazing and I use it all the time, specially when I'm working on full screen on my mac. Nonetheless I do find it way more intuitive if I can just drag and drop into the tab I want side by side. I think of the implementation in three ways:
1. Add a personalization feature in which I can change what happens when I drag a tab and drop into another. So instead of the default being just creating groups you can choose whether from both options. For example in my case, I don't use the grouping tabs feature, but I use frequently the split view so definitely would be more convenient for me so I can drag and drop for split view.
2. The same as before but instead of changing the default: drag and drop for grouping; shift + drag and drop for split view.
2. When I pull a tab from the ribbon If I'm moving it on top of the window I'm using it suggests to start split view similar to what windows has on default for apps with snap assist.