Little-known iPhone control tips

The Back Tap (tap on the back) is one of the easiest ways to programmatically control iPhone available. All iPhone generations since 8/8 Plus (launched 5 years ago) up to now can take advantage of this feature, but in fact most users are wasting it.

The secret is forgotten in the touches on the back of the iPhone AFP

With Back Tap, the person holding the device only needs to tap the back 2 or 3 times (even while wearing a protective case) to use the customized features available in the Settings section of the device. Thus, instead of equipping the device with more hardware keys, Apple has brought a convenient “soft button” without affecting the overall design.

To use, users need to own an iPhone 8/8 Plus or later and the device requires running iOS 14 above. Back Tap is in the Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap. This path may vary depending on the device model or operating system version. Users can access it faster by typing “Back Tap” into the search box at the top of Settings on the device.

After switching the mode from Off to On, they can choose a control method with 2 or 3 touches and assign each of these operations a separate feature to activate. The list of features to assign is very rich, from making calls, texting, opening applications, turning on the flash, taking screenshots, adjusting the volume up or down, turning on Sirilock/unlock screen…

Experts recommend that users choose commonly used actions such as taking screenshots, turning on the camera/flash, switching the device to Do Not Disturb (DND) mode, etc. to help reduce the process. If you are a person who often reads books, newspapers or texts, emails on your phone, choosing to adjust 2 touch / 3 touch to scroll the page will bring an interesting new experience without touching the screen.

Or for busy people who have the habit of asking Siri to read the text on the screen, they can also choose this quick activation method instead of giving voice commands, but Siri cannot read Vietnamese yet.

Back Tap is also used to turn on a shortcut to Accessibility, opening a multi-function iPhone control window on the screen to help users quickly select one of the actions. The Accessibility shortcut can also be enabled by triple-tapping the side key, but it’s not as convenient as Back Tap.