How to Access Control Center Without Touching Your iPhone's Screen - MacRumors
Skip to Content

How to Access Control Center Without Touching Your iPhone's Screen

by

Activating Control Center on an iPhone with no Home button usually involves sliding your finger diagonally down from the top-right corner of the screen. If your other hand isn't free, this isn't very convenient, but fortunately there's another way of accessing Control Center that doesn't even require you to touch the screen.

control center
It uses something called Back Tap, an accessibility feature that lets you assign an action to be triggered when you double-tap or triple-tap the back of your iPhone. One of the optional actions that Apple lets you assign to Back Tap is Control Center, and once you've set it up, it's a neat alternative way of bringing it up when you've got your hands full.

To assign Control Center to a double-tap or triple-tap of the back of your ‌iPhone‌, follow the steps below. Note that Back Tap requires an ‌iPhone‌ 8 or newer model running iOS 14 or later.

  1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap Accessibility.
  3. Under "Physical and Motor," tap Touch.
    settings

  4. Scroll down and tap Back Tap.
  5. Tap Double Tap or Triple Tap to set an action to trigger.
  6. Select Control Center from the list.
    settings

After assigning an action to a Back Tap using the above steps, the Back Tap is immediately ready to use, so go ahead and give it a go. You can also use the same Back Tap to dismiss Control Center.

There are numerous actions that you can assign to a Back Tap on iPhone. You could use it for quick access to something –- launching a specific app, for example. You can set a Back Tap to turn Rotation Lock on/off, activate Zoom, bring up the Camera, or even trigger a shortcut.

Popular Stories

iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Next Month With These 12 New Features

Thursday August 6, 2026 7:03 am PDT by
It is now August, and that means the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are just a month away. The devices are expected to look similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will still be many year-over-year changes, with rumored features including a smaller Dynamic Island, 5G via satellite, and more. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and a...
apple account card feature

Apple Account Card in Wallet Now Available in Four More Countries

Thursday August 6, 2026 6:01 am PDT by
Apple has expanded support for the Apple Account Card in the Wallet app to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Malta. The Apple Account Card option for Wallet started rolling out in 2022, and Apple has been gradually expanding to more countries since then. The card displays the balance associated with a user's Apple Account and can be used to make purchases in the Apple Store, online, or for...
AirPods Ultra Mock

'AirPods Ultra' to Launch as Soon as Next Month

Friday August 7, 2026 10:58 am PDT by
Apple has been planning to release AirPods with cameras as early as this year, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. If so, they could be unveiled as soon as September alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models and the long-rumored foldable iPhone. The earbuds are expected to have a design similar to the AirPods Pro 3, but with tiny cameras. Given the AirPods with cameras will likely be more...