iOS 14 Adds Accessibility Feature for Tapping on the iPhone to Perform Actions

[MacRumors]

iOS 14, released for developers today, includes an interesting new Accessibility option that's designed to allow users to double tap or triple tap on the back of the iPhone to perform various actions.

The feature can be used to do things like access Control Center, Notification Center, the Lock screen, the Home screen, or the App Switcher, or it can change the volume, bring up Siri, mute the iPhone, take a screenshot, or access a Shortcut.

It can also be set up to work with a number of Accessibility features like Assistive Touch, Magnifier, or VoiceOver.

The Back Tap options can be accessed in the Settings app by tapping Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap. Tapping to trigger an action appears to work fairly well when the iPhone's back is tapped in any spot on the device with either the double tap or triple tap gesture.

Back Tap is just one of many new Accessibility features that Apple has built into iOS 14. VoiceOver has also received major improvements with support for image descriptions, text recognition, and screen recognition, as well as Headphone Accommodations that can amplify soft sounds and adjust certain frequencies for music, movies, phone calls, podcasts, and more.

Article Link: iOS 14 Adds Accessibility Feature for Tapping on the iPhone to Perform Actions

 

[QuarterSwede]

Super cool!

 

[Mr. Awesome]

Awesome! And arguably more useful then the squeeze gesture on Android phones.

 

[tillsbury]

Interesting... wonder if it works with a case on...

 

[Jpcastill]

It works with the Apple folio case, even the folio flipped over and having a gap! It’s really neat. 11 Pro Max

 

[Hal~9000]

This seem’s like a fantastic trick for the large Pro Max iPhone in order to easily bring down Control Center when using the phone one handed. Just another feather in the cap of the great update that is iOS 14 🙂

 

[ErikGrim]

This is really good. Set mine to Siri and Spotlight respectively.

 

[Doctor Q]

Perhaps they should expand this feature to let you tap out a pattern, or even Morse code, to indicate what you want.

 

[spenceralger]

Does it only work when the phone is on?

 

[nfl46]

This is sick!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1275242348537155584

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Does it only work when the phone is on?

Seems to be the case for me.

 

[alexandr]

This seem’s like a fantastic trick for the large Pro Max iPhone in order to easily bring down Control Center when using the phone one handed. Just another feather in the cap of the great update that is iOS 14 🙂

you can use assistive touch for now, i've been doing so since they got rid of the home button. this double tap feature is promising to be even better!

 

[rain111]

Ok, I am mind-blown by this feature. thumbs up Apple 👍

 

[tennisproha]

Nice. How does it work though?

 

[Johnny907]

Nice. How does it work though?

Accelerometer I suppose.

 

[CarpalMac]

First had this in 2015 on my LG G4, it's brilliant, I am amazed it has taken so long to include it.

 

[M3gatron]

Incredible feature, that has existed in Android phones for years.
Double tab to turn on the phone is also nice.

 

[xander09]

My carpal tunnel syndrome came back in my right hand a couple months ago, after being quiet for about 12 years. What changed? It could be age, maybe I got sloppy with my ergonomics, but I also got a XS Max about five months ago; my first Face ID phone. I’ve wondered about the constant up-swiping with my thumb and the larger, heavier phone as possible aggravators. Back-tap to Home and Spotlight could do a lot to minimize the repetitive motion; it could bring its own RSM problem.

 

[macduke]

I’ve got double tap set to Control Center and triple tap set to Spotlight and it’s working really well so far. Hopefully this functionality is expanded in the future like other accessibility features over the years.

Overall iOS 14 has been running pretty good for a first build on my iPhone 11 Pro and iPad Pro third gen. Mostly having a few UI glitches with typing into web forms like this and a couple other small things but nothing completely breaking yet.

Battery life ran out on my iPhone 11 Pro which never happens but installing a new OS can sometimes do that. We’ll see if it’s a problem tomorrow. I’m mainly at home all the time now so I figure why not daily drive this thing? Only leaving my Mac alone since I use it for work.

 

[ian87w]

Nice. How does it work though?

Yeah, really curious how does this work. And how can iOS differ tiate the taps with background movements. I mean the feature is great, but I wish more depth is explored on the mechanism.
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Incredible feature, that has existed in Android phones for years.
Double tab to turn on the phone is also nice.

For all my life using Android, I have never see this on Android. Note that this is tapping the back of the phone, not the screen.

 

[Juli112]

Pretty cool to launch the camera with a shortcut!
But still miss the double tap on power to launch it like on Android
Not even triple tap is possible to launch a shortcut...

 

[hortod1]

Me: why does my phone seem to have a mind of its own after the upgrade?

Apple: you’re tapping it wrong

 

[gymnastboatman]

FYI: This only works on models that support tap to wake. It is not available on my iPhone SE 2nd gen.

 

[I7guy]

Incredible feature, that has existed in Android phones for years.
Double tab to turn on the phone is also nice.

Really?

Google testing new double-tap gesture on the back of phones in Android 11

Some newly discovered code in the Android 11 Developer Preview has uncovered a new gesture code-named "Columbus." The new gesture would allow you to double-tap the rear of the phone to ...

www.androidcentral.com

Might be existed on *a* android phone for years.

 

[hybrid_x]

This is a super-cool feature. I wonder how sensitive the accelerometer is, and whether they could add even more gestures to the back of the phone. If it could differentiate where on the back you tapped, you could do some tap sequences with two fingers (e.g. an index-middle finger double-tap or middle-index finger double-tap). These gestures could even be used in gaming, for additional controls.

 

[QuarterSwede]

Can’t find it on my 6S Plus. Not sure if that’s a bug or if the 6S doesn’t support.