You hold your iPhone every day. You tap apps, scroll through social media, and type out countless messages. But here is a little secret: most of us are using our devices like they are still the original model from 2007. We peck at the screen and take the long way around to get things done, completely unaware that there is a layer of "invisible" shortcuts right under our fingertips.
Apple has baked in a suite of gestures that are designed to make navigation faster, typing smoother, and multitasking feel almost like magic. The problem? There are no buttons labeled "swipe here to save five seconds." You have to know they exist.
If you are ready to stop pecking and start gliding through iOS like a pro, you have come to the right place. We have rounded up the most practical, game-changing gestures that will transform the way you interact with your iPhone. Let’s dive in.
1. The Text Editing Magic Tricks
We have all been there. You are typing a long email or an impassioned text message, and you realize you made a typo three sentences back. Trying to tap exactly between the letters "i" and "e" with your thumb can be an exercise in frustration. You tap, you miss, you delete the wrong word, and you sigh.
Forget tapping. Your keyboard has a hidden trackpad built right into it.
- The Spacebar Trackpad: Press and hold your thumb on the Spacebar. After a brief second, the letters on the keyboard will turn blank/grey. Without lifting your thumb, slide it around the keyboard area. You will see the cursor in your text box moving in perfect sync with your thumb, just like a mouse cursor on a computer. Drop it exactly where you need it.
Once you have mastered the cursor, you need to master the text itself. While the "Shake to Undo" feature exists, looking like you are shaking a Polaroid picture in public just to delete a sentence isn't ideal. Apple introduced three-finger gestures that are much more elegant.
- Copy: Pinch inward with three fingers anywhere on the screen (imagine you are picking up a pinch of salt).
- Paste: Pinch outward with three fingers (like you are sprinkling that salt).
- Undo: Swipe three fingers to the left.
- Redo: Swipe three fingers to the right.
Pro Tip: If the three-finger pinch feels too crowded on a smaller screen, simply tap the screen once with three fingers. A small toolbar will appear at the top of your app with cut, copy, paste, and undo arrows.
2. Managing the Mess: Fast Selection in Mail and Messages
Cleaning up your inbox or clearing out old verification codes from your Messages app usually involves hitting an "Edit" button, and then tapping every single item you want to delete one by one. Tap. Tap. Tap. It is slow and tedious.
There is a desktop-style selection gesture available right on your touchscreen that works in Apple’s native apps like Mail, Messages, Notes, and Files.
How to do it:
- Open your Mail or Messages app list.
- Place two fingers anywhere on the list of items.
- Drag those two fingers straight down (or up).
As you drag, the iPhone automatically enters "Edit" mode and starts checking off every item your fingers pass over. It is incredibly satisfying and significantly faster than the single-tap method. You can select twenty spam emails in about two seconds, hit trash, and move on with your life.
3. Safari Surfing: Tab Switching and History
If you are the type of person who has 47 Safari tabs open right now, this section is for you. Navigating the mobile web has changed significantly in recent iOS updates, moving the address bar to the bottom of the screen by default. This wasn't just a design choice; it was an ergonomic one meant to enable gestures.
Instead of tapping the "Tabs" button (the two overlapping squares) to switch between websites, you can simply swipe.
- Quick Switch: Place your thumb on the address bar at the bottom of the screen and swipe horizontally to the left or right. You will instantly slide to your previous or next open tab. It feels like flipping through pages of a book.
Furthermore, have you ever gone down a Wikipedia rabbit hole and realized you need to get back to the page you started on 15 minutes ago? Tapping the "Back" arrow twenty times is unnecessary.
- The History Jump: Long-press (tap and hold) the Back arrow in the bottom left corner. A list of your recent history for that specific tab will pop up, allowing you to jump all the way back to your starting point in one tap.
Did you know? You can also long-press the "Tabs" button in the bottom right corner to see an option to "Close All Tabs." It’s a great way to digitally declutter your mind at the end of the day.
4. The Secret Button on the Back of Your Phone
This is arguably the "coolest" hidden feature because it utilizes hardware you didn't even know was interactive. It is called Back Tap. Your iPhone uses its accelerometer to detect when you tap the back of the device, effectively turning the Apple logo on the back of your case into a customizable button.
This is an accessibility feature, but it is brilliant for power users. You can map a double-tap or a triple-tap to almost any system function.
How to set it up:
- Go to Settings > Accessibility.
- Tap on Touch.
- Scroll all the way to the bottom and select Back Tap.
- Choose Double Tap or Triple Tap and assign an action.
What should you use it for? The possibilities are endless. You could set a double-tap to take a Screenshot (saving you from the awkward volume/power button dance). You could set a triple-tap to turn on the Flashlight. You can even use it to launch the Camera or open the Control Center.
5. Drag and Drop: Not Just for iPads
For years, "Drag and Drop" was a feature touted for the iPad because of the large screen real estate. However, this feature quietly made its way to the iPhone, and it allows you to move photos, files, and text between apps without ever using the copy/paste menu.
This gesture requires two hands (or very nimble fingers), but it is a fantastic party trick that is actually useful.
Let’s try moving a photo from the Photos app to a Message:
- Open your Photos app.
- Tap and hold a photo until it "lifts" slightly under your finger. Do not let go.
- While keeping that finger held down on the photo, use your other hand to swipe up from the bottom of the screen to go Home, or swipe along the bottom to switch apps.
- Navigate to the Messages app and open a chat.
- You will see a green "+" icon appear on the photo you are holding.
- Release your finger to drop the photo into the text box.
You can do this with multiple photos at once, too. While holding the first photo with one finger, use a different finger to tap other photos; they will stack up under your first finger. Then, drag the whole stack to a new app.
6. Reachability: Saving Your Thumbs
iPhones have gotten big. The Pro Max models are practically small tablets. If you have smaller hands, reaching the Control Center or the top-left "Back" button can feel like a dangerous game of hand gymnastics where you risk dropping your phone.
Apple solved this with a feature called Reachability. It brings the top half of the screen down to the bottom half.
How to use it:
- On iPhones with Face ID (no home button): Swipe down on the very bottom edge of the screen (the horizontal bar).
- On iPhones with a Home Button: Lightly double-tap (don't click) the Home button.
The entire screen will slide down, putting those top-corner buttons right within easy reach of your thumb. Tap the empty space at the top (or wait a few seconds) to send the screen back up.
Note: If this isn't working, ensure it is turned on by going to Settings > Accessibility > Touch and toggling on Reachability.
Mastering the Muscle Memory
Reading about these gestures is step one, but integrating them into your daily life is step two. It might feel strange to swipe the spacebar or pinch the screen with three fingers at first. You might forget and go back to tapping "Edit" in your email app.
That is normal. Pick one or two of these gestures—perhaps the Spacebar Trackpad and the Safari Tab Swipe—and force yourself to use them for a week. Once your fingers learn the dance, you will wonder how you ever used your iPhone without them. You aren't just using a phone anymore; you're driving it.