The fastest way to turn on your iPhone flashlight

iOS makes it very easy to launch actions without even activating the screen.

My iPhone’s flashlight isn’t just a tool I rarely use, it’s a feature I use almost every day, whether it’s lighting my way to the bathroom in the middle of the night, lighting up the garden when my animals make strange noises, or finding something underneath. sofa, of course. And to make my life easier with a flashlight, I created a handy little shortcut.

iOS makes it very easy to initiate actions

Back Tap is an accessibility feature introduced by Apple in iOS 14. It allows you to quickly and easily perform certain actions, such as taking a screenshot or opening a photo of your device, by simply tapping the back of your phone. To sum it up, it just turns the entire back of the iPhone into a button.

It’s fun for a whole group of people, and in my case, touching the back of the device gives me a custom button to quickly turn the flashlight on or off. So, here’s how to set it up on your smartphone. However, you can, if you wish, take the opportunity to trigger a completely different action.

If you want to link “Touch the back of the device”to a flashlight, camera, or open a specific app, the procedure remains the same. On a compatible iPhone (iPhone 8 or later), open the Settings app and go to Accessibility > Touchscreen > Tap the device again. There you can set the corresponding action (in our case, a flashlight) and select a double or triple tap. Two is easier, but three is probably better if you’re used to pounding on the phone frantically.

even without waking up the screen

Once you’ve made your choice, select the Torchlight option or the desired action. You will see over 30 options offered by iOS. You can even set it up to run a shortcut you download or create.

You’ll know you’ve saved your selection when you see the little blue check mark to the right of the action. You can install two of these shortcuts, one that launches with a double tap and the other with a triple tap on the back of the iPhone.

Once you’ve exited the Settings app, you can try the “Touch Back”feature by pressing the back of your iPhone a predetermined number of times and you’ll see the action activate. In my case, lighting a flashlight. To turn it off, you can tap the back of your iPhone again, but you can also go through the lock screen if that’s easier.