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Want to Open an iPhone App Without Touching the Screen? Here’s How

You can launch any app and perform other useful functions just by tapping the back of your iPhone.

If you don’t have an iPhone 16, you might think you’re missing out on the new Camera Control button that lets you quickly open the camera app. Luckily, if you have an iPhone from the past few years, there’s already a hidden «button» that can open the camera — or any other app. To access it, all you need to do is tap the back of your device.

The feature is part of the Back Tap tool in your iPhone’s accessibility settings. Once enabled, it can trigger almost anything your phone can do, from turning on the flashlight to opening Shazam before a song ends. You can even set it to open the Control Center, take a screenshot or run a custom Shortcut with two or three quick taps. It’s fast, discreet and surprisingly powerful once you set it up.

The feature is called Back Tap and, like the Action Button on newer iPhones, it gives you one more way to interact with your device without touching the screen. You can activate it by tapping anywhere on the back of your phone, including on the camera module. The best part is that it works even if you have a fairly thick case on your iPhone.

Back Tap is available on iPhones as old as iPhone 8, as long as they’re running iOS 14 or later. We’ll show you how to enable it and how to use it with your Shortcuts app for nearly endless possibilities.

Read more: All the Ways the iPhone 16’s Camera Control Button Will Change Your iPhone Photography

What is the iPhone Back Tap feature?

Back Tap is an iPhone feature introduced in iOS 14. It lets you perform shortcuts on your iPhone by double or triple tapping on the back of the device.

You can customize Back Tap on your iPhone to easily perform common actions like pulling up the Control Center or Notification Center, especially useful if you have a larger phone and can’t swipe down from the top of the screen without some complex finger gymnastics. You can even have two separate functions enabled at the same time: Back Tap can distinguish between a Double Tap and a Triple Tap.

Depending on the number of times you touch the back of your iPhone, you can set Double Tap to open your Notification Center and Triple Tap to take a screenshot. Or, you can make Double Tap open the Control Center and Triple Tap launch the Magnifier app. Experiment with Back Tap to find the right combinations of taps and functions that best fit your needs.

And you aren’t limited to just the Back Tap options that are available by default. Thanks to the Shortcuts app, you can set up Back Tap to perform specific functions or launch any app. For example, you can create a simple shortcut that opens Shazam or starts a voice recording, then activate it with a quick Double Tap or Triple Tap. You can also use Back Tap to trigger a more elaborate shortcut, such as 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 Settings app. Then go to Accessibility → Touch → Back Tap. There, you’ll find a list of options for configuring Double Tap and Triple Tap.

Here is the full list of functions that you can map to a Double Tap or Triple Tap:

  • None

  • Accessibility Shortcut

System

  • App Switcher

  • Camera

  • Control Center

  • Flashlight

  • Home

  • Lock Rotation

  • Lock Screen

  • Mute

  • Notification Center

  • Reachability

  • Screenshot

  • Shake

  • Spotlight

  • Volume Down

  • Volume Up

Accessibility

  • AssistiveTouch

  • Background Sounds

  • Classic Invert

  • Color Filters

  • Control Nearby Devices

  • Dim Flashing Lights

  • Live Captions

  • Live Speech

  • Magnifier

  • Smart Invert

  • Speak Screen

  • VoiceOver

  • Zoom

  • Zoom Controller

Scroll Gestures

  • Scroll Down

  • Scroll Up

At the bottom of the menu, you’ll also see a list of Shortcuts. These options will vary depending on what’s available in your Shortcuts app.

The one potential downside to Back Tap is that you don’t get any tactile feedback when you use it so you might accidentally trigger it at the wrong time and not realize it until later. For instance, you might double tap without meaning to and set off your flashlight by accident. In that case, you might want to remap your Double Tap to a less conspicuous function. Or, you can leave Double Tap off and only use Triple Tap, which you probably won’t trigger as often.

How do I use Back Tap to take a quick photo?

One way to set up Back Tap is to map Double Tap to the Camera and Triple Tap to Volume Up or Volume Down. Because you can press either of the volume buttons to instantly take a picture, you can get the same effect if your volume buttons are mapped to Back Tap. With this combination, you can capture a photo with five quick taps on the back of your iPhone (though you’ll have to pause briefly between performing the Double Tap and Triple Tap, so that your phone can distinguish between the two actions).

This Back Tap combination even works if your phone is locked. Again, spend some time trying out different combinations of taps and features to find which ones are most useful for you.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Aug. 25, #806

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Aug. 25, #806.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle was all over the place for me. I solved the blue category right away, but did not even see the purple theme coming. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: A bad situation.

Green group hint: Tiny circles.

Blue group hint: Frosty the Snowman smoked one.

Purple group hint: Not up.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Predicament.

Green group: Small spherical things.

Blue group: Pipe-smoking accessories.

Purple group: What «down» might mean.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is predicament. The four answers are fix, jam, mess and pickle.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is small spherical things. The four answers are mothball, pea, pearl and pom-pom.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is pipe-smoking accessories. The four answers are filter, lighter, pipe cleaner and tamper.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is what «down» might mean. The four answers are feathers, guzzle, sad and willing.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Aug. 25 #540

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Aug. 25, No. 540.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Some students have been back to school for weeks, but others see that first day looming large. Today’s NYT Strands puzzle has a timely related theme. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. 

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Back to school.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Stock your locker.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

  • PACK, PACT, TOLL, LAPS, SLAP, SLAT, LOST, BOOK, BOOKS, CRAP

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

  • LAPTOP, FOLDERS, BACKPACK, NOTEBOOKS, CALCULATOR

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is SUPPLIES. To find it, look for the S that is five letters down on the far-right row, and wind backwards.

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Technologies

Back-to-School Deal: Tello’s Unlimited Plan Gets You Cell Service for $15 Per Month Your First 3 Months

Tello’s back-to-school deal lets you save big on cellphone service, but you have until Monday to take advantage of this discount.

The cost of every day basics continues to go up, but we take great pride in looking for ways to help you cut your expenses wherever you can. If you haven’t considered switching phone plans, maybe it’s time to do just that. Phone plans are a necessary line item on everyone’s budget, but switching to a cheaper one can help you save money every monty — which adds up over time.

If you’re looking to make a change, Tello is offering Unlimited phone plans for just $15 per month for your first three months this back-to-school season. You pay this as a $45 upfront payment rather than month to month, which may be preferable for some customers. After your initial three-month period on the Tello plan, the price reverts to the usual cost of $25 per month. But this deal is available only to new Tello customers until Monday.

Tello offers 5G and 4G LTE nationwide coverage so you can reliably get through phone calls or surf the internet. The plan includes unlimited data, 35GB of high-speed data, and free Wi-Fi and hotspot calling. US plans include free calls and texts to more than 60 countries, including Canada, India and Mexico. Data speeds slow down after you use your 35GB. Tello allows you to bring your own phone or lets you get a new one for a separate fee.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

If you’re looking for an even more budget-friendly plan, you can also consider their 2GB plans for $10 per month. Right now their 5GB plan is $10 for the first month and then just $14 per month. These have data limits, but they include unlimited talk and text. Once you select your plan, it will renew every 30 days unless you cancel or change it.

Looking for more ways to save on your phone plan but not sure if this deal is for you? Check out our list of the best cheap phone plans or best family plans so you can find exactly the plan you need.

MOBILE DEALS OF THE WEEK

Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.

Why this deal matters

At just $15 per month for three months (and $25 after this period), Tello’s Unlimited plan is one of the most budget-friendly deals available in the market right now and can save you hundreds over the year. This deal is available until Monday, and now is an excellent time to take advantage of it.

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