you should add pages for that split app right?
see my split app,
createContent: function (oController) {
// to avoid scroll bars on desktop the root view must be set to block display
this.setDisplayBlock(true);
// create app
this.app = new sap.m.SplitApp();
// load the master page
var master = sap.ui.xmlview("Master", "NAMESPACE.Master");
master.getController().nav = this.getController();
this.app.addPage(master, true);
// load the empty page
var empty = sap.ui.xmlview("Empty", "NAMESPACE.Empty");
this.app.addPage(empty, false);
return this.app;
}