How to Use the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR

How-to
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Use these tips to help you master the iPhone XS, iPhone XR and iPhone X — from how to navigate the devices to getting the most out of their new features.

Help How to Bring the Home Button Back to iPhone XR and XS

Apple sacrificed the iPhone’s physical Home button for an edge-to-edge display starting with the iPhone X. Now you tap and swipe your way around the screen to navigate. But what if you miss the Home button?

Luckily, an old iOS feature can bring it back — sort of.

Anyone who uses Apple’s extensive Accessibility settings may be familiar with AssistiveTouch, and it's this feature that allows you to create a virtual home button to replace the physical one the new iPhones left behind.

AssistiveTouch puts a virtual home button on your screen, and you can assign multiple functions to it. One tap could return you to the home screen, while force touching the button (something iPhone XR users will not be able to do) could capture a screenshot. You can even change the opacity so the button is barely there or extremely prominent, depending on your needs. Here’s how to activate AssistiveTouch on your new iPhone. —Caitlin McGarry

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Select General.

3. Tap Accessibility.

4. Scroll down and select AssistiveTouch.

5. AssistiveTouch is turned off by default, so toggle it on.

6. On the same menu, you can assign functions to the new virtual button. Want to just return Home with a tap? Done. Pull up the Control Center with a long press? You can do that too. You can even create a custom gesture and assign it a task.

7. AssistiveTouch’s settings also allow you to control the opacity of the button so it’s either extremely visible or barely there. If you don’t want to see it while you’re using apps, I suggest bringing the opacity down a few notches.

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Tom's Guide Staff
Tom's Guide Staff

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7 Comments Comment from the forums
  • spal26558
    It's good I understand n I will tell my friend also
    Reply
  • doduyvuong
    If i switch the Control USB Restricted Mode on iPhone XS and i forget it for so longtime, untill the batterie is running out, can i still be able to recharge it to use t again?
    Reply
  • webgtlnbrgrs
    Gee, it asked me if I wanted to up load all the info from my iPhone 7 , I clicked yes, and it said put both phones close together and it did it all on it's own, I don't understand why you even wrote this article ..
    Reply
  • dittodan
    I tried several times and this only brings up a screen to let you "slide" to make it go off. What am I doing wrong?
    Reply
  • dittodan
    Tried adding an Amazon and and PayPal CC and it denied me. Before I got this phone, both of the cards were signed up and working fine.
    Reply
  • dittodan
    Is this higher capacity charger the same one used for an iPad?
    Reply
  • powerharp
    After years of using Android, I changed to an iPhone ONLY because iPhone can stream audio to my hearing aids. After 2 weeks with the iPhone there are several clearly inferior characteristics. Most annoying is that you cannot close all open apps at once. The requirement to swipe each open app up or possibly do three at once is garbage. it is extremely difficult to switch between apps as will, something I did frequently on my clearly superior Android phones. Also, Android has apps that allow you to record phone calls but Apple doesn't, claiming that it is illegal in a lot of places. It's also legal in a lot of places. The iPhone function to swipe to get to the open apps is a joke (Android just requires a touch) and the procedure to get to the previous screen when browsing is also laughable compared to Android.
    Reply