How To Set Up Assistive Touch On Your iOS Device

A man looks at his Apple iPad in front an Apple logo outside an Apple store in downtown Shanghai March 16, 2012. Reuters/Aly Song

Assistive Touch is an accessibility feature on your iOS device that makes it more convenient to operate through the on-screen menu. You can easily tap and perform various actions through the assistive touch instead of the Home button.

Here are the steps on how to set up Assistive Touch on your iOS device.

1. Turn on Assistive Touch by going to Settings. Next, go to General then Accessibility then Assistive Touch.

2. Choose Assistive Touch to enable Triple-click Home.

3. Next, press the Home Button three times to turn Assistive Touch on or off.

4. You may adjust the speed needed for Triple-click Home by going to Settings, then General, then Accessibility then finally, Home-click Speed.

5. The Assistive Touch menu button will appear once the feature is turned on. You may drag the white button to any edge of the display.

6. Tap Assistive Touch to open. However, if you are using an accessory, click on the secondary button.

7. To attach an accessory is an optional feature. You may use a few accessories with Assistive Touch, such as Connect from Ablenet or iPortal from Dynamic Controls.

8. When you have an accessory attached, adjust the tracking speed by going to Settings, then General, then Accessibility, then Assistive Touch and finally, Touch speed.

9. To hide the Assistive Touch menu button, go to Settings, then General, then Accessibility. Turn off Assistive Touch.

For Gestures and Device Controls

You can swipe or drag using multiple fingers by following these steps:

1. Open the Assistive touch menu.

2. Tap Device, then More, then Gestures.

3. Choose the number of fingers that you wish to associate with a specific gesture.

4. Swipe or drag in the direction as required when the circles appear to execute the gesture.

5. Tap the menu button when you are done.

Assistive Touch allows you to bypass other buttons such as the volume buttons. One finger will be enough to perform various gestures with the feature, such as locking or rotating the screen, shaking the device or taking a screenshot.

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