Shortcuts and gestures can help you do more with your phone in less time; you just need to know the right ones to use. With the release of iOS 14 and the effort of third-party developers on Android, you can now access a very useful new shortcut: tap the back of your phone to launch apps, take screenshots, open the camera and more.
Touch an iPhone again
If you’re using an iPhone, the setup process is simpler, because the back-touch feature is built-in iOS 14. However, you need an iPhone 8 or later and a phone that supports Tap to Wake, due to the necessary sensors. You do not have the option to plug after iPhone ES, for example.
If you are using a compatible phone, go to Settings in Accessibility, so Touch, so Play again to activate shortcuts and decide how they work. You can activate and configure both Double tap i Triple touch if you want, it will provide you with two different shortcuts that can be activated in an instant.
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There are many system shortcuts that you can assign to a double or triple tap, such as taking a screenshot, waking up Siri, muting your phone, locking the screen, and opening the Control Center. You can also start several accessibility shortcuts, including the VoiceOver and Magnifier features.
Below the list is a selection of Siri shortcuts, including custom shortcuts that you set up earlier. Any Siri shortcut it can be assigned to a later touch, which means the possibilities are almost endless. Touchbacks can change your phone settings, work with files, record photos and videos, extract information from the web, and more. With Siri shortcuts, you can use the back tap with just about any app you want.
A double or triple tap starts the chosen action and, if necessary, a second double or triple tap undoes it again. For example, if you mute your phone, the back-touch shortcut works as a mute and mute switch; if you set it to open the Control Center, the back tap is displayed and hidden.
There are quite a few IPhone gestures beyond the normal that you might never have discovered or forgotten. Swipe down to the text input box to hide the keyboard, for example, or swipe left and right to delete digits in the Calculator app, or double-tap to zoom in. and Apple Maps. You can read about some more gestures here.
Touch an Android phone again
Touchback is a little trickier for Android users, because it’s not a feature built into your phone’s software. There were signs that could appear in Android 11, at least for Pixel phones, but eventually Google decided to remove the functionality, whether or not it is shown in a future update.
Third-party developers have plugged the gap, specifically Kieron Quinn XDA Developers community. Its app is called Tap, Tap and it should work on most Android phones. It’s still in beta, so you may notice some bugs or inconsistencies with your own device.
Touch, Touch is not available in the Google Play Store at the time of writing, so you must visit it this forum thread from your phone, follow the download link for the first post, then tap the security warnings Android shows you about installing unknown software (okay, you can trust this app).
Once you open the app, you’ll be able to set up and test the touch sensitivity and make the app work with the Android accessibility service so you can always “hear” your taps. You’ll also need to make sure Android doesn’t close the app to try to conserve battery life, but tap again Tap to guide you through the process.
When you reach the main screen of the application, you can configure it even more: Select Double tap actions i Triple touch actions to choose what you want to happen with a touch after. You can launch apps, take screenshots, activate the Google Wizard, and more. The app also allows you to set up “gates” for when ringtones work and don’t work; you can turn them off when the screen is off, for example, or when you’re on a call.
Tap, Tap is still a beta software and may suffer some occasional bugs, but it actually gives you a lot more control than Apple’s built-in solution. It’s great for launching your camera, doing a web search, seeing your notifications, and more. As with iOS, Android supports several other gestures you may not be familiar with, and we’ve picked up a few here.