Some Android smartphones have a little-known yet very practical daily function for quickly triggering actions. Here’s how to find it, activate it and configure it.
Android phones are full of very practical but not always well-known ergonomic and accessibility features. It must be said that the system regularly gains new features as versions change and that these are often well hidden in multiple settings submenus. And to make matters worse, each phone manufacturer adds its own modifications to Android, which means that certain functions are not available from one model to another and the options are not always stored in the same place.
This is typically the case of a particularly useful function, which appeared a few years ago: Quick Tap. This feature is a gesture shortcut that adds a sort of hidden button to the back of the phone. When enabled, it allows you to trigger certain actions by tapping the back of the device two or three times, such as taking a screenshot, launching the voice assistant, pausing video playback, or turning on the phone flashlight. Many other actions can thus be triggered by tapping the back of your smartphone and it is of course possible to choose those that suit you best.
Very practical, the Quick Tap function, also called Back Tap or “Tap backwards” on certain phones with an approximate translation, is unfortunately only available on certain very specific devices, the exact list of which is not known precisely.
Launched in 2020 with Android 11, the Quick Tap function is officially available on Google phones, starting with the Pixel 4a (5G) model. With these phones you can activate this feature from the app Settingsin the menu System > Gestures > Double tap to initiate actions and choose the action to trigger when you tap the back of the device.
Xiaomi has also integrated the Quick Tap function on some of its phones, notably those equipped with its MIUI overlay from version 12 and Android 11 or higher, but this is unfortunately not systematic. To check if your Xiaomi smartphone is one of the lucky ones, open the application Settingsthen the menu Additional settings and finally Shortcuts for gesturesin which you will find an option Quick Tap Or Back Tap if your phone is compatible. Other manufacturers, like Motorola or Lenovo also seem to gradually add the Quick Tap function to their devices, but in a disparate manner.