IPhone AssistiveTouch

When Assistive Touch is enabled on the iPhone, the Assistive Touch gesture menu is superimposed on the home screen menu. If you find Assistive Touch confusing, you can disable the feature in the device's Settings menu to return the iPhone to standard mode. If you don’t want to completely disable Assistive Touch, you can hide the Assistive Touch menu to use the device in standard mode while leaving Assistive Touch activated.

  1. Tap the “Settings” icon in the home screen on the iPhone to open the Settings menu.

  2. Tap the “General” tab and then tap “Accessibility” in the General options. The Accessibility Settings menu displays.

  3. Tap the “Assistive Touch” option. The Assistive Touch Settings screen opens.

  4. Slide the slider from “On” to “Off” to disable the Assistive Touch feature.

You can use AssistiveTouch to adjust volume, lock your screen, use multi-finger gestures, restart your device or replace pressing buttons with just a tap.

When you turn on AssistiveTouch, a button will appear on the screen. You can drag the button to any edge of the screen, where it will stay until you move it again. By default, tapping the button once will open the AssistiveTouch menu. Tapping once anywhere outside the menu will close the AssistiveTouch menu.

There are a few ways to turn on AssistiveTouch. You can:

  • Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch, then turn on AssistiveTouch
  • Use "Hey Siri" to say "Turn on AssistiveTouch"
  • Go to Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut, then turn on AssistiveTouch

AssistiveTouch can also be added to the Accessibility Shortcut for quick access from Control Centre, or you can use the side or Home button. And if you have an Apple Watch Series 4 device or later, you can turn on AssistiveTouch on your Apple Watch.

IPhone AssistiveTouch

Access menus and controls that require onscreen gestures, such as:

  • Control Centre
  • Notification Centre
  • Spotlight
  • Home
  • App Switcher
  • Speak Screen

The AssistiveTouch menu gives you access to functions that you would otherwise control by pressing physical buttons or moving the device. With AssistiveTouch, you can:

  • Activate the Accessibility Shortcut
  • Lock the screen
  • Adjust the volume
  • Summon Siri
  • Restart the device
  • Capture a screenshot
  • Simulate shaking the device

  1. From the AssistiveTouch menu, select Device > More.
  2. Select Gestures.
  3. Choose between 2-, 3-, 4- or 5-finger input.

After you've made your selection, multiple dots will appear on the screen that indicate where the virtual fingertips are touching the screen. Moving one finger around the screen or performing taps will control all virtual fingertips at the same time. The virtual fingertips will automatically go away after a few moments of inactivity. 

IPhone AssistiveTouch

To change the order, number and contents of the buttons in the menu:

  1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch.
  2. Tap Customise Top Level Menu, then tap an icon to reassign a different function to its position.
  3. Use the + and - buttons to change the number of buttons that appear in the menu. 

Use the Reset button to erase your changes and restore the default menu settings.

To assign an AssistiveTouch function to a single-tap, double-tap or long press of the button:

  1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch.
  2. Under the Custom Actions heading, choose Single-Tap, Double-Tap or Long Press.
  3. Choose an action from the list to assign to the gesture.
  4. Use the AssistiveTouch button to go back to Settings.

You can adjust the amount of time the actions can perform a double-tap or how long the button must be held for a long press.

You can record custom taps and swipes using the touchscreen and save them to the AssistiveTouch menu.

To create a new gesture:

  1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch.
  2. Tap AssistiveTouch, then tap Create New Gesture.
  3. Recording will start automatically when you touch the screen, so you can tap or swipe whenever you're ready.
  4. When you've finished, tap Stop.

To review your recorded gesture, press Play. If you want to re-record your gesture, tap Record. Press Save to name your gesture when you're ready.

If you're unable to perform a multi-finger gesture by using multiple fingers at the same time, you can record individual movements and they'll group together. For example, draw two horizontal dots on the top half of the screen and a semicircle on the bottom of the screen, then press Stop. When you press play, all dots and lines will play at once.

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