A hidden gesture on your iPhone can allow you to take a screenshot or even control parts of your house without even needing to move your finger very far
While there’s a plethora of tricks you can perform with your iPhone, many might not know that a simple gesture could unlock a host of additional features.
A hidden gesture on your iPhone could enable you to take a screenshot or even control parts of your home with barely a flick of a finger. To access this feature, iPhone users need the Shortcuts app.
This app typically comes pre-installed on your iPhone and doesn’t require downloading from the App Store. The tool lets users create custom shortcuts on their phone, enabling them to streamline a multitude of tasks by linking them all to one action, such as a gesture or button press.
One specific gesture that can utilise Shortcuts is the ‘Back Tap’ feature. This allows users to trigger a Shortcut when they double or triple-tap the back of their phone with their finger.
How to activate back tapping on your iPhone
Official guidance from Apple states that a double or triple tack on the back of an iPhone can be activated with the following steps:
- Press Settings
- Press Accessibility
- Press Touch
- Press Back Tap
- Select Double Tap or Triple Tap
- Choose what action you want to link it to (e.g. take a screenshot)
What can be controlled with back tap
Apple’s guidance highlights that a double or triple tap can perform minor actions such as taking a screenshot. However, to fully exploit the feature, you might want to link it to run a personalised Shortcut.
The Shortcut app boasts a plethora of actions that can be executed with just a tap on your smartphone. DiscoPumpe, a Reddit user, shared their use of the shortcuts app to switch off all lights at home.
In a discussion about the various uses for shortcuts, they explained: “I use it a lot. You can even make different shortcuts depending on the focus mode that is activated. So while a triple tap shuts all light and music off while my home focus is activated, it activated my budget tracking shortcut while I’m out.”
Meanwhile, Larten_Crepsley90 said: “I have a shortcut that takes a screenshot and copies all of the text, it then saves it into a note and opens the note. Handy when I want to copy something that is not selectable.”
Not_TheMenInBlack added: “Double tap opens a prompt to switch between mono and stereo. It gets a lot more use than you’d think. Triple tap turns on my color filters, night shift, etc. to redwash my screen before bed. I typically have this all automated with my sleep focus, but occasionally it helps to minimize eye strain when I have headaches.”