How to Create and Use iPhone X Shortcuts GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Mobile Phones > iPhone & iOS 48 48 people found this article helpful
How to Create and Use iPhone X Shortcuts
Miss the Home button? Add a virtual one
By Sam Costello Sam Costello Writer Ithaca College Sam Costello has been writing about tech since 2000. His writing has appeared in publications such as CNN.com, PC World, InfoWord, and many others. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on December 1, 2021 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email iPhone & iOS Switching from Android What to Know
To add a virtual home button, go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Assistive Touch and toggle it on.To customize the virtual home button menu, select Customize Top Level Menu while on the Assistive Touch screen.Go to the Custom Actions section to choose whether or not your new shortcut uses single tap, double tap, long press, or 3D Touch. The iPhone X is the first iPhone without a Home button. In place of a physical button, Apple added a set of gestures that replicate the Home button along with other options. If you prefer to have a Home button on your screen, you have an option. iOS includes a feature that adds a virtual Home button to your screen. You can also create custom shortcuts that do things the physical button can't. How to Add a Virtual Home Button to the iPhone
To configure the virtual Home button, you first have to enable the Home button itself. Here's how: Tap Settings. Tap General. Tap Accessibility. Tap AssistiveTouch. Move the AssistiveTouch slider to On/green. The virtual Home button appears on your screen. Position the button anywhere on your screen using drag and drop. Make the button more or less transparent by using the Idle Opacity slider. Tap the button to view its default menu. How to Customize the Virtual Home Button Menu
To change the number of shortcuts and the specific ones that are available in the default menu: On the AssistiveTouch screen, tap Customize Top Level Menu. Change the number of icons shown in the Top Level Menu with the plus and minus buttons at the bottom of the screen. The minimum number of options is 1; the maximum is 8. Each icon represents a different shortcut. To change a shortcut, tap the icon you want to change. Tap one of the available shortcuts from the list that appears. Tap Done to save the change. It replaces the shortcut you selected. If you decide you want to go back to the default set of options, tap Reset. How to Add Custom Actions to the Virtual Home Button
Now that you know how to add the virtual Home button and configure the menu, it's time to get to the good stuff: custom shortcuts. Just like a physical Home button, the virtual button can be configured to respond differently based on how you tap it. Here's what you need to do: On the AssistiveTouch screen, go to the Custom Actions section. In that section, tap the action that you want to use to trigger the new shortcut. Your options are: Single-Tap: The traditional single click of the Home button. In this case, it's a single tap on the virtual button. Double-Tap: Two quick taps on the button. If you choose this, you can also control the Timeout setting. That's the time allowed between taps. If more time passes between taps, the iPhone treats them as two single taps, not a double-tap. Long Press: Tap and hold the virtual Home button. If you select this, you can also configure a Duration setting, which controls how long you need to press the screen for this feature to be activated. 3D Touch: The 3D Touch screen on modern iPhones lets the screen respond differently based on how hard you press it. Use this option to have the virtual Home button respond to hard presses. Whichever action you tap, each screen presents several options for shortcuts that you can assign to the action. These are particularly cool because they turn actions that might otherwise require pressing multiple buttons into a single tap. Lifewire Most shortcuts are self-explanatory, such as Siri, Screenshot, or Volume Up, but a few need explanation: Accessibility Shortcut: This shortcut can be used to trigger all kinds of accessibility features, such as inverting colors for users with vision impairment, turning on VoiceOver, and zooming in on the screen. Shake: Choose this, and the iPhone responds to a button tap as if the user shook the phone. Shake is useful for undoing certain actions, especially if physical issues prevent you from shaking the phone. Pinch: Performs the equivalent of a pinch gesture on the iPhone's screen, which is useful for people who have impairments that make pinching difficult or impossible. SOS: This button enables the iPhone's Emergency SOS feature, which triggers a loud noise to alert others that you may need help and a call to emergency services. Analytics: This feature begins the gathering of AssistiveTouch diagnostics. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire How to Use AssistiveTouch on Your iPhone How to Use 3D Touch on Apple Devices How to Create Folders on an iPhone to Organize All Your Apps Here's How to Fix An iPhone That Won't Turn Off How to Take a Screenshot on Your iPhone How to Get Home Button on Screen How to Change the Color of Apps on iOS 14 How to Take a Screenshot on PS5 How to Change the Instagram Icon in iOS and Android The Many Uses of the iPhone Home Button How to Use Siri on iPhone 12 How to Refresh iPhone How to Customize an iPhone's Home Screen How to Change App Icons on iOS 14 The 15 Best iPhone Hacks & Tips for 2022 How to Set Up and Use Touch ID, the iPhone Fingerprint Scanner Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies