How to activate the secret button behind your iPhone

Never discovered, although you have been using iPhones for several years. So know it now: Apple has integrated a secret button behind your device. Ah yes, on the back of your phone, since the iPhone 6S, there is an invisible button, a secret button with which you can perform various tasks.

A month ago your iPhone got a new button and you might not have noticed it. The arrival of iOS 14 included in the update the activation of a new feature called Back Touch, which is a true digital button on the border between hardware and software.

Once activated, you can turn the back of the phone into a giant touchscreen button that you can tap 2-3 times to access a shortcut, open an app, etc. No need to have one of the new iPhone 12, this new button is available for all iPhone compatible with iOS 14 – so from iPhone 6S – and you might not know it because Apple has hidden this option in the menu “Accessibility”, “touch” and “touch the back of the device”.

According to the GQ Italia website, the goal is to offer users an additional option to interact with their device: you can choose between double tap and triple tap to open an app or web page, activate Siri, take a capture. screen, etc. The idea was born to make the phone more accessible to those who are disabled or have hand problems, making the use of the smartphone even easier. But the back touch is also inevitably linked to the wide range of shortcuts implemented by Apple: it is invisible to the naked eye, does not work if it is not activated, but it can be tasked with performing almost any task. activities from your phone with just a touch.

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This customization has precisely transformed this new button into a creativity tool, allowing users to find their own ways of enjoying the new button on the back of their devices. Best of all, it works great: there are no activation errors because the iPhone recognizes intentional touches. It’s a new physical button that users can interact with but is almost entirely devoid of Apple’s usual limitations. Imagine if they gave you the option of remapping the side button to another function.

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It is precisely for this reason that the back button becomes a real wildcard that can change your day. It might sound pompous, but it’s one of the biggest innovations introduced with iOS 14, precisely because physical buttons are the most direct form of interaction. That’s why Samsung insists on a bespoke Bixby button and why Netflix is ​​paying for a spot on your remote. And while Apple may not be willing to give up control of the canonical keys on your devices, this new back key could be the new frontier in personalization according to Cupertino.

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