How do you use iPhone's Back Tap?

Apple recently released the newest version of the operating system for iPhones called iOS 14, and there are lots of new things to learn.

Among the new features is an intriguing one called Back Tap, which is hidden in the Accessibility settings, and lets the user launch an action by double- or triple-tapping the back of the phone.

At first glance, it would seem that Back Tap should be a time saver for everyday applications. A good example is if you're a Roku user. Back Tap allows you to launch the Roku app on your phone to control your TV.

You can also use Back Tap to launch iOS shortcuts, which you can create in the Shortcuts app on your iPhone. Touch the plus sign to create a shortcut and search for the app on the next screen. When it finds the app, touch its icon to bring up a list of things you can do in the shortcut. If you're using it for Roku, Open Roku Remote would appear.

Now exit the Shortcut app and open Settings on your iPhone. Scroll down to Accessibility and then open Touch and scroll down to the bottom of the screen to turn on Back Tap. You'll see double- and triple-tap listed. Touch one to see the various actions you can assign to that Back Tap, including Mute, Lock the Screen, launch Control center and more. If you scroll down on the list, you'll find the iOS Shortcuts listed. If you had created an Open Roku Remote shortcut, it will be listed on your phone as well.Once you assign the shortcut to the Back Tap, close the settings. Now, when you tap twice on the back of the phone, the Roku Remote app appears.

TiVo also has an app with remote control, so you can set up the triple tap to call up the TiVo app (use the Scripting shortcut to open the app).

Perhaps this doesn't save a ton of time. After all, you could just keep those apps on your phone's main screen and just launch them. But by the time you pick up my phone and double tap, the app is right where you want it.

You will need an iPhone 8 or newer to be able to use Back Tap.