iPhones have always been the one-stop solution to all the needs of the user along with better protection, security, and experience. With updates and exclusive add-ons, the screen size of iPhones has also increased. Reachability mode is one such. This has several advantages such as a better immersive experience and efficient usage of the screen.
As every coin has two sides, every feature has advantages as well as disadvantages. Similarly, as the screen size of the iPhone increases, it would make it difficult for the users to handle with a single hand. In order to prevent this issue, Apple users have a feature called the ‘Reachability mode’ on iPhone.
As the size of iPhone displays has gotten larger, gone are the days when using only one finger to perform most of the tasks. However, it is still possible, at least in some of the aspects, with the Reachability mode on iPhone. When it is activated, the feature lets the user reach items at the top of the mobile device by just swiping down on the bottom of the screen to bring the top into his or her reach.
In this article, we will focus and discuss more on this feature, that is, the Reachability mode on iPhone that makes handling easier for the users.
What is Reachability Mode on iPhone?
All the iPhone 6 and upper versions of Apple phones include this feature that helps the user to virtually lower the upper portion of the screen so that the user can reach it which otherwise would be a difficult task, especially with one hand.
Since the launch of the Apple iPhone 6 in the year 2014, there has been a significant increase in the screen size in the upcoming models like never before. Often it is also referred to as phablets, that is, a combination of phone and tablet due it is a large size.
As no one could actually access the entire screen as one should be able to use a phone, iPhone models starting from iPhone 6 and plus have the reachability feature.
Enable the Reachability Mode on iPhone
Now that we know the exact purpose of this feature and its use, let us proceed with the steps to enable this feature that every iPhone user must know about.
- First, open the phone’s Settings app (gear-shaped icon) on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and click on the ‘Accessibility’ menu.
- Choose the ‘Touch’ option from the list under ‘Physical and Motor’ settings.
- In ‘Touch’ settings, click on the switch beside the ‘Reachability’ option to turn it on. When the Reachability mode is enabled, the switch would turn green such that the toggle moves to the right half of the switch.
- Once enabled, exit the phone ‘Settings’.
If the Reachability mode is already on or enabled then you need not shift the toggle. Check this before shifting the toggle as it would otherwise disable the feature such that it cannot be used on the device.
How to Use the Reachability Mode?
To access the reachability mode, based on the type of iPhone, that is an iPhone with or without the ‘Home button’, the steps differ. Follow the steps accordingly.
In iPhone using the Home button
Unlock your iPhone and gently tap on the Home button twice. Do not push or click the Home button, instead just tap on it twice.
In iPhone (without home button)
Unlock the iPhone and swipe downwards on the bottom edge of the screen. That is, touch the bar on the horizontal bottom of your phone screen and swipe the area just above the bar towards the bottom.
After this, you would notice that the virtual screen size of the iPhone display would have been reduced by one-third of the screen’s height. All the applications, browsers, etc. would be displayed according to this reduced screen size, hence, one can use it with a single hand easily.
Disable the Reachability Mode
As the activation of this mode or feature involves a simple tap or swipe, one might accidentally access this mode. Therefore, here are the steps to disable the Reachability mode whenever you want.
- Open your iPhone ‘Settings’ app on your smaller or shrunk screen iPhone and go to ‘General’ settings.
- Scroll down and click on the ‘Accessibility’ menu.
- Choose the ‘Touch’ option from the list under ‘Physical and Motor’ settings.
- In ‘Touch’ settings, click on the switch beside the ‘Reachability’ option to turn it off the mode that was enabled. You can ensure the disabling by checking the toggle, as it will turn back to being colorless from green color.
- Exit the ‘Settings’ and check whether the virtual screen or display has transformed to the normal mode.
Note: Once that you have disabled this feature, you cannot access it by double-tap or swipe. It can be used only after enabling it once again.
Temporary Change of Mode
Another simple technique that can be used to temporarily bring the screen size to normal without disabling the feature is by using the ‘Upper Arrow’ symbol on top of the screen in the Reachability mode. This is an easy method to change the display mode.
As of now, there is no customization available or any other alternative action for double-touching the Home button. So the user can either have the Reachability mode enabled or have it turned off completely.
However, this might change in a future version of iOS, and maybe there would be alternative actions assigned to the Home button light-touch and based on the number of taps required to use or activate a particular mode.
Conclusion
In this article, we have covered everything about the Reachability mode on iPhone, its uses, and the steps to enable or disable it. Hope this article was helpful in using the iPhones with large screens and handling them easily!
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