How to Create a Virtual Home Button in iOS Using Assistive Touch

[MacRumors]

After testing some apps on an old iPhone 6 recently, I started to notice the device's Home button was becoming less and less responsive to finger presses, especially when it came to double-clicking it. Sure enough, after a few more days' use, the Home button stopped working completely.

In memory of the Home button​

Now, ordinarily this would have left me in the unenviable position of having to power off my iPhone and turn it on again whenever I wanted to exit out of a launched app, until I relinquished the device and sent it away for a costly repair.

Fortunately, however, the event jogged my memory of a friend who was able to continue using their iPhone even after a drop had left its Home button dangling by a wire (by some miracle, Touch ID still worked). They had set up iOS's Assistive Touch feature as a virtual Home button while they waited until they could afford a replacement.

If your iPhone's Home button is dead or dying and you want to take similar action, or if you just fancy reminding yourself what using a Home button was like before Apple removed them from its latest iPhones, here's how to set up Assistive Touch to mimic a virtual one.

Note that if your Home button is already broken and your iPhone is stuck in a launched app, simply power off the device and turn it on again to boot back into the Home screen and follow these steps.

1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
   Tap General.
   
   
   
   Tap Accessibility.
2. Scroll down and tap AssistiveTouch.
   
   
   
   Slide the AssistiveTouch toggle to the green position to turn it on.
3. Next, under Custom Actions, select Single-Tap.
   
   
   
   In the next screen, tap Home to check it in the list.

With the AssistiveTouch virtual button enabled, simply touch it and it will behave just like a physical Home button.

Note that you can drag it around the screen to another location, and it will remain there until you move it again. You can also access it in running apps, as well as the Control Center.

Article Link: How to Create a Virtual Home Button in iOS Using Assistive Touch

 

[Johnny365]

I have never run across or had it happen where my home button was broken. What are you guys doing to it?

 

[Xgx]

On a 6s it would be much quicker to just hard press the left side of the screen to launch the app switcher via 3D Touch, can’t see any benefit to turning the device off and on again...

 

[Daku93]

On a 6s it would be much quicker to just hard press the left side of the screen to launch the app switcher via 3D Touch, can’t see any benefit to turning the device off and on again...

Also: how do you get to the home screen from the lock screen without pressing the button? Don't you have to press the home button to unlock?

 

[Xgx]

Also: how do you get to the home screen from the lock screen without pressing the button? Don't you have to press the home button to unlock?

Guess you could just swipe right and interact with a widget, then use passcode to unlock, or do the same with anything in notification centre?

 

[Infinite Vortex]

I have never run across or had it happen where my home button was broken. What are you guys doing to it?

Of the 4 iPhones I've had I've needed to replace button in 2 of them (iPhone 4s and iPhone 5). They go hinky and/or stop working. Come to think of it the button in my iPad mini crapped out as well. I see a lot of people using this. While I don't permanently mount my iPhones and bow to it of an evening I do look after my things. The problem is the buttons themselves.

 

[haruhiko]

Of the 4 iPhones I've had I've needed to replace button in 2 of them (iPhone 4s and iPhone 5). They go hinky and/or stop working. Come to think of it the button in my iPad mini crapped out as well. I see a lot of people using this. While I don't permanently mount my iPhones and bow to it of an evening I do look after my things. The problem is the buttons themselves.

Post Touch ID home button was already very good.

 

[BootsWalking]

I have never run across or had it happen where my home button was broken. What are you guys doing to it?

I've never had cancer before. What are you guys doing to your cells?

 

[Infinite Vortex]

Post Touch ID home button was already very good.

You can say "already very good" all you like. Fact of the matter the button broke down. And I forgot that the button in my iPhone 3G needed replacing as well.

 

[JosephAW]

Where the instructions for when the side button breaks on a X?

 

[now i see it]

Thanks Tim for that tip!!
This is a great feature to use even if the home button works fine when using a Plus sized traditional iPhone. Just tried it out. Works great ++

 

[Mike MA]

The picture in combination with the thread‘s title made me laugh.

 

[Westside guy]

Back when it was easier to jailbreak, I got a couple extra years out of an iPod Touch after its home button failed by using the Activator tweak (IIRC) and assigning the action "simulate home button press" to a particular swipe gesture across the menubar.

Activator was probably my favorite tweak - it let you do a lot of useful stuff.

 

[B4U]

The slight drawback is, the virtual home button will also show up on the screen captures. This also shows up if you record the screen.

 

[davidg4781]

Thanks Tim for that tip!!
This is a great feature to use even if the home button works fine when using a Plus sized traditional iPhone. Just tried it out. Works great ++

I’ve never used a plus iPhone but how do you normally hold it? I’m think I would hold it the same but just have more screen on top and to the left.

 

[44267547]

I have never run across or had it happen where my home button was broken. What are you guys doing to it?

So, what are you trying to see here, Just because it didn’t happen you, how does it happen to others? Even if you drop your iPhone on a certain angle, it’s not difficult to break the home button or where it lose its functionality with consistency.

Also, I would suggest reading through the iPhone forum, there have been multiple threads where others have broken their home button simply by dropping the phone or intermittent hardware issues.

 

[MikeSmoke]

It has become rare to use the home button on iPad for any thing other than Touch ID since iOS 12.

 

[sshambles]

The slight drawback is, the virtual home button will also show up on the screen captures. This also shows up if you record the screen.

It had in past iOS versions and in betas, but not for many years now (in screen captures — don’t know about recording the screen). I use it on a daily basis, since the 6+ as it doesn’t wear and tear your button out.

 

[haruhiko]

You can say "already very good" all you like. Fact of the matter the button broke down. And I forgot that the button in my iPhone 3G needed replacing as well.

Post Touch ID means after Touch ID , which means iPhone 5S or later.

 

[B4U]

It had in past iOS versions and in betas, but not for many years now (in screen captures — don’t know about recording the screen). I use it on a daily basis, since the 6+ as it doesn’t wear and tear your button out.

It was on iOS 10 for both.

 

[now i see it]

I’ve never used a plus iPhone but how do you normally hold it?

Always use a Loopy case with Plus phones. And I've got big hands. The Plus phones are an eventual guaranteed drop without it.

 

[Virinprew]

I've never had cancer before. What are you guys doing to your cells?

If the home button is broken, replace it. Can you replace your lungs? No. So don’t compare apple with orange for the coolness sake.

 

[shamino]

It had in past iOS versions and in betas, but not for many years now (in screen captures — don’t know about recording the screen). I use it on a daily basis, since the 6+ as it doesn’t wear and tear your button out.

This feature is far from new. I just checked and it's on my 4th generation iPod Touch, running iOS version 6.