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You’re absolutely not alone if you find yourself experiencing an exciting revelation over this TikTok video from @jane_affairs. You see, it turns out that we’ve all been sleeping on the actual and hidden functionality of the infamous Apple logo on the back of every iPhone. 

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TikTok

By flipping her iPhone over she was able to show the rest of the wondering world how to enable shortcuts on their iPhones for a variety of purposes. 

You simply go into “Settings”, tap on “Accessibility,” and then “Touch” located underneath the Physical and Motor category. As you scroll down to the bottom there’ll be an option for “Back Tap.” This is generally set to “off” by default, however, when you explore further you can enable double or triple tapping to perform specific tasks. These include muting your phone, taking a screenshot, accessing a shortcut, or even turning the flashlight on/off. 

(Technically the “Back Tap” feature works by tapping anywhere on the back of your iPhone, but many users find it to work best if you tap on the Apple logo.)

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TikTok

Don’t sweat it though. You haven’t actually been living under a rock if this technology hack caught you by surprise. The feature was only implemented upon the release of iOS 14 back in September 2020. 

You should also take note that it doesn’t work with some of the earlier iPhone models that were able to use iOS 14. However, if you have your hands on an iPhone 8 or any of the other newer models, you’ll be able to enable it. 

@jane_affairs ♬ original sound – Jane Jane

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Meet the Writer

Matt has spent the last 8 or so odd years as both a writer and editor in Seattle and Brooklyn, where he is now based. He loves escaping the tirelessly fast pace of the “Mad Apple” that is NYC by taking walks and runs through parks where he’s able to catch up on the latest tea about society from the city’s ever chatty, always hungry, occasionally rabid, pigeons. When he’s not taking his urban nature strolls, or dutifully combing the deepest rabbit holes of the internet to find the content that’s worth sinking your mind’s teeth into, he’s likely holed up at a dark-lit dive bar with a book and/or some friends, or just easily he could be on the hunt for the next addition to his steadily growing plant family.