You know about the secret “button” on the back of your iPhone? You can have it turn on your camera or flashlight, or instantly activate Shazam to identify a song before it changes. You can summon your iPhone’s Control Center or Notification Center without having to swipe down from the top of your screen. With a little imagination, you can use this feature to perform almost any function on your phone.
The function is called Back Tapand like the Action Button on newer iPhones, it gives you another way to interact with your device without touching the screen. You can activate it by tapping anywhere on the back of your phone, including the camera module. And the best part is that it works even if you have a fairly thick case on your iPhone.
Back Tap is available on iPhones starting with iPhone 8, as long as they’re running iOS 14 or later. We’ll show you how to enable it and use it with your Shortcuts app for nearly endless possibilities.
What is the iPhone Back Tap feature?
Back Tap is an iPhone feature introduced in iOS 14. It allows you to perform shortcuts on your iPhone by double- or triple-tapping the back of the device.
You can customize Back Tap on your iPhone to easily perform common actions like opening Control Center or Notification Center, which is especially handy if you have a larger phone and can’t swipe down from the top of the screen without some complicated finger gymnastics. You can even enable two separate functions at once: Back Tap can distinguish between a Double Tap and a Triple Tap.
Depending on how often you touch the back of your iPhone, you can set Double Tap to open your camera app and Triple Tap to take a screenshot. Or you can have Double Tap open Control Center and Triple Tap launch the Magnifier app. Experiment with Back Tap to find the right combinations of taps and features that best suit your needs.
And you’re not just limited to the Back Tap options that come standard. Thanks to the Shortcuts applets you set Back Tap to perform specific functions or launch an app. For example, you could create a simple shortcut that opens Shazam or starts a voice recording, then activate it with a quick Double Tap or Triple Tap. You could also use Back Tap to activate a more elaborate shortcut, like automatically sending photos and videos to specific photo albums.
How do I set up Back Tap on my iPhone?
To enable Back Tap, go to your Institutions app. Then go to Accessibility → To touch → Back TapThere you will find a list of options for configuring Double Tap and Triple Tap.
Here’s the full list of functions you can assign to a Double Tap or Triple Tap:
No
Accessibility Shortcut
System
App switcher
Camera
Control Center
Flashlight
At home
Lock rotation
Lock screen
Stupid
Notification Center
Accessibility
Screenshot
Shake
In the spotlight
Volume down
Volume up
Accessibility
AssistiveTouch
Background noises
Classic reversal
Color filters
Control nearby devices
Weak flashing lights
Live subtitles
Live speech
Magnifying glass
Smart reversal
Speech screen
VoiceOver
Zoom
Zoom controller
Scroll gestures
At the bottom of the menu you will also see a list of Shortcuts; these options will vary depending on what is available in your Shortcuts app.
The only potential downside to Back Tap is that you don’t get any tactile feedback when you use it, so you could accidentally activate it at the wrong time and not realize it until later. For example, you could accidentally double-tap and accidentally turn on your flashlight. In that case, you can remap your Double Tap to a less noticeable function. Or you could leave Double Tap off and just use Triple Tap, which you probably won’t trigger all that often.
