How to Enable and Use Reachability on iPhone X

BY Khamosh Pathak

Published 4 Nov 2017

At first, it looked like the iPhone X wouldn’t have the Reachability feature. A curious choice for a device that has a taller screen than the iPhone 8 Plus. The removal seemed justified because the Home button itself is gone. Now that the iPhone X is out in the wild, we know that Reachability lives on the iPhone X. But it is not turned on by default.

Read moreTop 10 New iPhone X Features

Here are the steps to enable Reachability on iPhone X:

Step 1: Go To Accessibility

Open the Settings app on your iPhone and go to General -> Accessibility.

Step 2: Enable Reachability

Here, turn on the Reachability option by tapping on the toggle. [Note: If you don’t find the Reachability option then install the latest iOS 11.1 software update]

How to Use Reachability on iPhone X

There’s no Home button and it looks like there are no tap or 3D Touch gestures associated with the Home indicator on the iPhone X. It’s all swipe, baby. To use Reachability you have to flick down on the Home indicator.

Step 1: Place Your Finger on Home Indicator

Place your thumb on the top part of the Home indicator.

Step 2: Flick Down

Reachability GIF

Flick your thumb or finger down. Make sure the entire interaction happens in the Home indicator area.

Once the gesture is registered, the whole interface will slide down, with the top half left blank.

This is a new gesture but a logical one. Flicking your finger down to bring down the whole UI makes sense.

How to Access Notifications and Control Center Using Reachability

The iPhone X is narrower compared to the iPhone 8 Plus, but it’s a bit taller. Even if you have average sized hands, getting to the top of the screen to use Cover Sheet or Control Center is going to be a pain (when one-handed).

You can use Reachability as a workaround for this.

Step 1: Activate Reachability

Flick down on the Home indicator to activate Reachability.

Step 2: Swipe from Right Edge of Blank Space

Now swipe down from the left side of the blank space to bring down Notification Center. Swipe from the right edge of the blank space to enable Control Center.

Easy peasy!

All the Great Gestures

The new Home-less iPhone X brings a lot of gestures. From unlocking the phone to switching between them. What do you think of all the new ways of interacting with the iPhone X? Share with us in the comments below.