The SECRET ‘taps and swipes’ to unlock hidden iPhone features revealed

APPLE has crammed its iPhones full of hidden features – many of which are unlocked using special taps or swipes.

If you’re a long-time iPhone user, there are some essential gestures you need to know.

1

Reach!

If you’ve got small hands or a big iPhone, there’s a trick you need to know.

It will totally change how you use your handset – and is perfect if you struggle to reach the top of the screen.

It’s especially true if you’re using a 6.7-inch giant like the iPhone 13 Pro Max one-handed.

Thankfully, Apple thought of a solution years ago: Reachability.

The little-known iPhone features lets you quickly shift the top of the screen down.

This makes it much easier to reach the top part of the display.

You’ll need an iPhone 6 or later, so any core model launched in 2014 or later will support it.

To turn it on, go into Settings and then look for Accessibility.

Now tap Touch and then toggle on the Reachability function.

So how do you use Reachability? It depends on your iPhone model.

If you’re using an iPhone with Face ID, you’ll want to swipe down on the bottom edge of the screen.

And if your iPhone has a Home button, lightly double-tap it.

When you want to return to full-screen mode, simply tap the upper half of the screen.

Back tap

Your iPhone has a hidden button on the back of the handset: the Apple logo.

Yes, it might look like a useless icon – but it’s got a big secret.

In iPhone settings, there’s an option to enable a feature called Back Tap.

Simply tapping two or three times on the back of the phone can perform multiple functions.

One of the most popular is having the iPhone take a screenshot – to save you fiddling with multiple physical buttons.

You can also use it to launch Shazam.

Shazam – now owned by Apple – will scan audio nearby and identify a song that’s playing.

So if you hear a track you like, you can use Back Tap to very quickly name the track.

Go to your settings, scroll down and tap “Accessibility” and then click “Touch”.

Then scroll down to “Back Tap”.

You’ll have the choice to turn on “Double Tap” or “Triple Tap”.

Whichever you select gives you the same options.

Click to see which features you can now control with either a double or triple tap on the back of your phone.

They include taking screenshots, turning the volume up or down, magnifying, scrolling and more.

For example, if you wanted to use a Double Tap to take screenshots, click the “Double Tap” option and then tick “Shazam Shortcut” or “Screenshot”.

Now you should be able to take a screenshot just by tapping the back of your phone twice.

Bear in mind that this feature might not work if you have a thick phone case.

Triple click

Every iPhone has a built-in “button click” trick that makes your life much easier.

If you’ve got an iPhone with Face ID, you can turn certain features on using by triple-clicking the side button.

It’s also possible to do this with the Home button if your iPhone has one.

You can set lots of different features to the “triple click” depending on you needs.

To find this clever iPhone hack, go into Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut.

Then choose the feature you want the most.

You can also change the activation speed of the clicks so that you don’t accidentally engage it.

The trick can be used to activate a Zoom function, or launch the iPhone’s built-in Magnifier camera.

And you can also use it to kick-start the Voice Control feature that lets you use the iPhone hands-free.

It’s also a great way to access Background Sounds.

This is a clever trick that plays white noise, rain or ocean sounds to help you get to sleep.

Best Phone and Gadget tips and hacks

Looking for tips and hacks for your phone? Want to find those secret features within social media apps? We have you covered…

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