Tip: here’s a much more fun way to invoke Reachability on iPhone X

On older iPhones, Reachability can be used by tapping the Home button twice.

On iPhone X, Reachability requires that you swipe down over the Home indicator at the screen bottom or, alternatively, swipe up and down quickly from the bottom edge of the display.

Some people may find this gesture a bit on the awkward side due to iPhone X’s almost fullscreen design which makes performing it a bit risky—my iPhone X almost slipped out of my hand when I tried to swipe up and down from the very bottom while holding it in one hand.

Thankfully, there’s a safer way to use Reachability on iPhone X.

Another way to use Reachability on iPhone X

Reachability, disabled by default, is an accessibility feature.

1) Go to Settings → General → Accessibility.

2) Slide the toggle Reachability to the ON position to enable Reachability.

reachability on iphone x

3) With Reachability turned on, begin swiping up from the bottom of the display as you would were you to use the app switcher. As soon as iOS starts scaling down the currently active app into its own card, swipe down rapidly without lifting the finger.

And that’s it, Reachability should now activate.

It’s basically a safer version of the Apple-sanctioned gesture with one difference: rather than swipe up and down on the Home indicator area, you perform a longer swipe-up-and-down which doesn’t make the phone unstable if you’re not gripping it tightly in your hand.

TUTORIAL: Use this secret gesture for faster app switcher access on iPhone X

To exit Reachability, swipe up from the bottom of the display.

Here’s a video from a Reddit poster showing this gesture in action.

PSA: There’s a much more fun way to invoke Reachability on iPhone X (video) from apple

Reachability brings the furtherest edge of the display into reach, which lets you use your phone in one-handed mode. When activated, it pushes onscreen content halfway down so that you can reach buttons and other user interface controls more easily with your thumb.

Don’t forget you can access Notification Center or Control Center one-handed in Reachability by swiping down from the middle-center or middle-right section of the screen, respectively.

The Reachability feature does not work in landscape mode.

Reachability is supported on any iPhone model from iPhone 6 onward.

TUTORIAL: How to make it easier to use Control and Notification Center on iPhone X

Andrew’s video walkthrough seen below explains using Reachability the way Apple intended.

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To enter Reachability on older iPhone models, double-tap the Home button.

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