Introduction
With the recent release of the new iPhone 16e, this means the end of the Home Button for iPhone users. Those who have been using iPhone SE's for years will now have to face not having a phone on the market which has the Home Button. We can't bring Touch ID back, but we can do something about duplicating the function of the Home Button. While many users have adapted in various ways, including performing the gesture, the fact remains that this gesture isn't as simple to perform until you are used to it as hitting a button. Speaking of buttons, I've sent the feedback several times to Apple that this should be an option for the Action Button. As of iOS 18.3.1, this still isn't one, though you can set up a Siri shortcut to assign the Action Button to the Home gesture (discussed below).
Using the new Gesture
The way in which one now goes to the Home Screen by default with VoiceOver is to place one finger at the bottom center edge of the screen and slide up quickly until you feel a slight vibration or hear the "pop" sound and then release. There are ways of addressing various challenges associated with this change. For example, I've found that using the Lightning or USB-C port on the iPhone as a placeholder has worked in some cases. Though the gesture doesn't have to be centered exactly, the port can act as a tactile guide of sorts. The advantage of this method, if effective, is that there is no physical modification required and transference of knowledge will apply to any iOS device the user will encounter in the future as long as the iPhone doesn't lose its one port. For those struggling with the initiation of the gesture, if you have a case on your iPhone, it is possible to strategically place a Bump Dot or some other tactile tool on the case which lines up with where one must place their finger to initiate the gesture.
But I don't wanna!
Sometimes, people can’t, for various reasons, or don't want, to learn this gesture. Since it's not something simple like a one-finger double tap, it's understandable that this may be the case. There are ways to address this as well. For example, one can set up a customized gesture to take them to the Home Screen. This is a process I've done many times, but when doing so, I make sure my consumers are aware that this gesture is a modification, and that if they wish to continue using it in the future, they may need to get support with setting it up on new devices. Here are step-by-step instructions for setting this up with VoiceOver, with the 2-finger swipe right being the chosen gesture.
- Go to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Commands > Touch Gestures.
- Select the gesture desired. For example, swipe right with 2 fingers.
- Under the System heading, locate Home and select it.
- iOS may inform you that the gesture you have chosen is already in use for another function. At that point, you can select Cancel or Assign, and the appropriate action will be carried out.
Once you have found a gesture that works and press Assign, that is all that is needed. The reason I chose swipe right with 2 fingers is because this gesture is assigned to moving into a group when VoiceOver's Grouped Navigation is enabled. This is a feature I do not use, so I will not miss it. Those who may miss it can also choose another gesture.
I don't use VoiceOver, now what?
Another way of doing this which doesn't use VoiceOver is to set up one of the Back Tap features to take you Home. For those unaware, Back Tap is a feature on iPhones that lets you do things just by tapping the back of your phone. You can set it up so that when you tap the back two or three times, your phone does something like take a screenshot or go to the Home Screen. It has been my experience that sometimes whatever is set up on the double Back Tap gesture will get activated by accident, but that the Triple Back Tap seems to work best. To set up Back Tap to perform the Home gesture with the Triple Tap, do the following:
- Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap.
- Toggle this to on.
- Navigate to Triple Tap and then select.
- Select Home from the list of options and you will be done.
I've found that the thicker the iPhone's case, the less often the Back Tap registers. Like any of the other methods above, it's another possibility.
Taking the Shortcut Home
As noted above, it is possible to create a Siri Shortcut which can utilize the Action Button on supported devices to take you Home. Follow the below steps on the compatible iPhone.
- Download the shortcut, courtesy of AppleVis' very own AnonyMouse. on a compatible iPhone.
- Activate the shortcut if it does not happen automatically.
- Select Add Shortcut.
- Now go to Settings > Action Button.
- In the adjustable menu, select Shortcut
- Select Choose a Shortcut.
- Select "Go to Home Screen".
- Press and briefly hold the Action Button to go Home. Welcome home!
Comments
Slight Correction
As a slight correction, your finger doesn't have to be centered either when swiping up from the bottom of the screen, or down from the top. I just tested and it basically worked all the way across both, no matter if I started from the very far left, slightly right etc. The tricky part for some may just be swiping in a straight line.
A suggestion from....
an Apple Accessibility Support person guided me through making the gesture successfully. He suggested I start about a quarter inch from the left edge at the bottom of the screen, and then slide the finger upwards exactly parallel as possible to the left edge of the screen. The gesture does not need to be fast moving. In fact, a nice slow movement is actually better since it gives you more time to pick up your finger between the first vibration in response to the gesture and the second gesture which is the app switcher. It should also be kept in mind that the gesture is not complete in either case until you pick up the finger.
Patrick
Good guide, but,
You need not have a central marker for bottom edge of the screen. Important point is to just swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen, and listen for those earcons or feel the haptick feedback.
On my 15 Pro Max, I am able to swipe up anywhere from bottom edge, be it central, left, right corner or half-way to those corners. Important is to start gesture from bottom edge of the screen. You don't need tactile marker for bottom edge, as it's already tactile enough, literally edge of the screen.
@ SeasonKing
While that is probably true for most users I did the same thing Scott is recommending and it helped. so that was a good thing to put in there some need that reference point.
That was great, thank you very much scott
Very helpful. I remap the home gesture quite often for clients. My experience is much the same as other commenters, I need not Swipe from the middle Bonham portion of the screen I have found it sticks better when people do it from One of the bottom edges of the screen. To each his own thank you very much
It’s not even a swipe most…
It’s not even a swipe most of the time, it’s a flick, you do it really really quickly, within like 50 to 100 ms
Backtap
It's worth noting that while fiddly to do it is possible to achieve a backtap through thick cases by tapping on the camera bump, assuming the case uses one large cutout. You can theoretically backtap on the lenses as well but I'm not comfortable doing this in case it causes scratches.
Weird swipes
I find the swipes to get the control and notification centres a little harder to pull off than the home swipe. Quite often I will pull down for the notification centre, let go and it says "notifications" but they are nowhere to be found. I usually end up having to go home, and then they seem to work better.
The only time i had a phone with a home button was the iPhone 4 and I wasn't using VoiceOver then. Did it also take care of these other weird swipes?
Great guide, though - wish I'd read this before my first forays into the iPhone and VoiceOver.
Control pannel
I just put my finger on the top of screen, did it very slowly brought it down. It open control pannel. No issues. Agree you do not need to do it fast, just slow is nice and it works.
Re:Iphone 4
Back then you didn't swipe for the other things. You put focus on the status bar then did three finger flick up for control centre,, three finger flick down for the notification centre. I just checked and it still works on my 16 pro funnily enough.
My biggest issue with no home button is if I'm in an app that becomes laggy for some reason the swipe gestures are either unresponsive or so significantly delayed it takes multiple seconds for the hapticks to kick in.
Swipes
Maybe my problem is just with the notifications centre. I think it is maybe some weird focus issue because it does say notifications, but then I can't seem to get to them. I definitely do try to do all these things too quickly. I'm trying to remember if I really do have the same thing with control centre. After a while you just get used to doing the same thing over and over again until it works. I know I am guilty of trying to do things too quickly.
One thing I don't like about all this is that in the rare cases when I'm playing a game that requires me to swipe around the screen, I will inevitably end up accidentally falling out of the app in some stupid way because I've accidentally performed my swipes too far up or down the screen.
mr grieves
Remember the story of the turtle and rabbit. Slow is the thing.
Notifications
So is it just me that struggles with this? It's always risky to ask a question like that.
I do try the notifications slowly sometimes but I'm sure the main problem isn't the gesture but that the focus doesn't land in the notification centre when it arrives.
Slowing down has definitely been a challenge since going blind. These gestures all feel like they should work quickly - they make all the right noises and seem to be doing the right thing. But then it just doesn't always pay off for some reason.
Mr Grieves
I've experienced voiceover saying notifications while not actually pulling up the notification center. Usually, what causes this is a banner on screen, be it a low battery alert or a persistent notification. Even the game mode banner can interfere with bringing up the notification center.
Hope this helps.
Even though I am comfirtable with edge swipes
I have mapped 3 finger swipe down for going to home, 3 finger swipe up for spot-light, and 4 finger left/right for jumping through recent apps without going in to recent apps screen.
The 3 finger swipe up for spot-light feels like a super-power specially since I need not go to home-screen or apps menu to open an app. I could be in some app, watching Youtube, and 3 finger swipe up, type some letters, and I can jump in to whatever app I want next. I am trying to figure out if something like this can be done with a 3rd party app on Android. Launching Google assistant/jeminy isn't the same. Let me know if any ideas.
Also, 1 thing I can't make sense on IOS is that home gesture, be it through VO or from bottom edge doesn't necessarily take you to home. If you opened the app from an app folder, doing home gesture lands you back in that folder. On Android, home gesture takes you to home, no matter what. I prefer Android's implementation. Suppose I was in a folder called Productivity, where all my blindness help apps are, I go in to it, open Be My Eyes, get the help I want, and get out. Why would I try to jump in to another app from same folder once my requirement is over unless that app somehow failed to meet my requirement. Any ways, I prefer to launch spotlight rather than dealing with home-screen folders these days.
@Dennis Long
Just curious, and with all due politeness, how does it help? Is there a challenge in locating bottom edge of the screen?
May be I was thinking for people with reduced sense of touch, but, for them, any tactile marker placed at bottom edge also might be too insignificant to feel. That would have to be a really pronounced tactile marker. Are we talking on the glass, or, on the frame?
SeasonKing
Think of the home screen like an app, the folders are a part of the app. You're being returned to what is effectively the home screen app in the state you last left it. Android must reset the home screen when you return to it and that's fine, just one of those little quirks between different systems.
SeasonKing
I use a case and screen protector. With that I can tell bottom of screen. Same for top.
Taps versus Swipes
One of my friends has her 16 set up, so that a triple tap with a single finger is the dedicated home gesture, and a triple tap with two fingers is the dedicated app switcher gesture. I know swipes can be faster, but the taps just work for her I guess. 🤷🏽♂️
Brian
To bad we can not use the action button to go to home. That would be cool.
Holger
We can actually.