One of the standout options on Apple’s flagship iPhone 16 and 16 Pro is the Camera Control button. But even in case you have an iPhone that is a number of years previous, there is a characteristic that allows you to shortly activate the digicam with out unlocking your system or touching the display screen. All you want to do is ready up the key “button” on the again of your iPhone.
You can use this characteristic to not solely launch your digicam app, but additionally flip in your flashlight or activate Shazam to establish a track earlier than it ends. You can summon your iPhone’s Control Center or Notification Center with out having to swipe down from the highest of your display screen. In truth, with a little bit little bit of creativeness, you should use this characteristic to carry out nearly any of your telephone’s features.
The characteristic is named Back Tap, and just like the Action Button on newer iPhones, it offers you yet one more option to work together together with your system with out touching the display screen. You can activate it by tapping anyplace on the again of your telephone, together with on the digicam module. And the very best half is that it really works even in case you have a reasonably thick case in your iPhone.
Back Tap is on the market on iPhones as previous as iPhone 8, so long as they’re operating iOS 14 or later. We’ll present you methods to allow it and methods to use it together with your Shortcuts app for almost infinite prospects.
Read extra: All the Ways the iPhone 16’s Camera Control Button Will Change Your iPhone Photography
What is the iPhone Back Tap characteristic?
Back Tap is an iPhone characteristic launched in iOS 14. It helps you to carry out shortcuts in your iPhone by double or triple tapping on the again of the system.
You can customise Back Tap in your iPhone to simply carry out frequent actions like pulling up the Control Center or Notification Center, particularly helpful in case you have a bigger telephone and may’t swipe down from the highest of the display screen with out some advanced finger gymnastics. You may even have two separate features enabled on the similar time: Back Tap can distinguish between a Double Tap and a Triple Tap.
Depending on the variety of occasions you contact the again of your iPhone, you possibly can set Double Tap to open your Notification Center and Triple Tap to take a screenshot. Or, you may make Double Tap open the Control Center and Triple Tap launch the Magnifier app. Experiment with Back Tap to search out the best mixtures of faucets and features that greatest suit your wants.
And you are not simply restricted to the Back Tap choices which can be accessible by default. Thanks to the Shortcuts app, you possibly can arrange Back Tap to carry out particular features or launch any app. For instance, you possibly can create a easy shortcut that opens Shazam or begins a voice recording, then activate it with a fast Double Tap or Triple Tap. You also can use Back Tap to set off a extra elaborate shortcut, equivalent to routinely sending pictures and movies to particular picture albums.
How do I arrange Back Tap on my iPhone?
To allow Back Tap, go to your Settings app. Then go to Accessibility → Touch → Back Tap. There, you will discover a record of choices for configuring Double Tap and Triple Tap.
Here is the complete record of features you can map to a Double Tap or Triple Tap:
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None
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Accessibility Shortcut
System
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App Switcher
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Camera
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Control Center
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Flashlight
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Home
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Lock Rotation
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Lock Screen
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Mute
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Notification Center
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Reachability
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Screenshot
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Shake
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Spotlight
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Volume Down
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Volume Up
Accessibility
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AssistiveTouch
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Background Sounds
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Classic Invert
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Color Filters
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Control Nearby Devices
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Dim Flashing Lights
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Live Captions
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Live Speech
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Magnifier
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Smart Invert
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Speak Screen
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VoiceOver
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Zoom
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Zoom Controller
Scroll Gestures
At the underside of the menu, you will additionally see an inventory of Shortcuts. These choices will fluctuate relying on what’s accessible in your Shortcuts app.
The one potential draw back to Back Tap is that you aren’t getting any tactile suggestions once you use it, so that you would possibly by accident set off it on the incorrect time and never notice it till later. For occasion, you would possibly double faucet with out that means to and set off your flashlight by chance. In that case, you would possibly wish to remap your Double Tap to a much less conspicuous perform. Or, you possibly can go away Double Tap off and solely use Triple Tap, which you in all probability will not set off as typically.
How do I take advantage of Back Tap to take a fast picture?
One option to arrange Back Tap is to map Double Tap to the Camera and Triple Tap to Volume Up or Volume Down. Because you possibly can press both of the quantity buttons to immediately take an image, you will get the identical impact in case your quantity buttons are mapped to Back Tap. With this mix, you possibly can seize a photograph with 5 fast faucets on the again of your iPhone (although you will need to pause briefly between performing the Double Tap and Triple Tap, in order that your telephone can distinguish between the 2 actions).
This Back Tap mixture even works in case your telephone is locked. Again, spend a while making an attempt out totally different mixtures of faucets and options to search out which of them are most helpful for you.
