Both Android 11 and iOS 14 include new back-tap gesture controls that allow you to perform various actions by double or triple tapping the back of your phone, when they are released later this year.

The back-tap gestures allow you to link double or triple tap options with a range of system tasks, such as taking a screenshot, locking your phone, activating silent mode, changing the volume, and even launching specific apps like the camera or Google Assistant.

Although the final versions of both operating systems are not yet available, Android and iPhone users can now get this feature on their phones.

iPhone users can install the iOS 14 beta to access this feature through Settings, specifically in the Accessibility section, and customize it as they see fit.

Android users with Android 7 or later can also access this feature now by downloading the Tap, Tap app, an open-source Android app developed by Keiron Quinn.

The Tap, Tap app uses the same machine learning code and TensorFlow models that Google used to optimize the double back-tap gesture on the Pixel 3XL, Pixel 4, and Pixel 4XL.

The performance of the Tap, Tap app on your phone will depend on its size and shape; the closer it is to the Google Pixel 3XL, Pixel 4, and Pixel 4XL in size and shape, the better the response. Thick phone cases may also affect the app's functionality.

Despite these considerations, the Tap, Tap app works excellently with many Android phones; the developer used it on a OnePlus 7T Pro, and a report from XDA Developers indicated that the app works efficiently on Asus ROG Phone 3, Huawei P40 Pro, and Pixel 3a XL.

As demonstrated in the following video, the developer customized a gesture to launch the camera app by simply tapping the back of the phone.

Here's how to set up the Tap, Tap app on Android phones running Android 7.0 or later:

Download the Tap, Tap app from GitHub, then install it on your phone.

After installation, open the app and tap on the Accessibility Service option at the top of the main menu. This will take you to your phone's accessibility settings.

Select Tap, Tap from the list of downloaded services, tap on Use Service, then tap Confirm.

Close the Accessibility settings and return to the app.

Once these steps are done, you can now customize the app as you wish. There are many settings and customization options available, including changing tap sensitivity and gestures under Gesture Controls.

You can choose between gesture models, then go to Actions to change what the double tap does.

Tags

iOS 14 Apple iPhone Android 11 Google Google Assistant

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August 13, 2020 Last updated: July 1, 2021

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