Beyond all the popular tricks and AI gimmicks, Android phones come packed with features that aren’t talked about enough. And one of my favorite ones is the back tap feature. It essentially turns the back of your phone into a secret button, one that is always there, always reachable, and somehow still overlooked by most people.
What I like most about back tap is that it works even when you have a thick case on, so you don’t need to compromise on protection to use it. At the same time, it doesn’t work when your phone is locked, so you don’t accidentally trigger anything while your phone’s in your pocket. In a way, it gives you a couple of action buttons your phone never had.
Setting up back-tap gestures works differently across Android phones
It’s still easy to do so
Unlike iPhones, Android does not have a back-tap feature built in. Instead, most manufacturers have created their own versions of it, so enabling the back-tap feature can be as quick as diving into your phone’s settings and flipping a switch or installing a whole new app. It’s a bit messy, but still completely worth it.
On Google Pixel phones, the feature lives inside the Gestures menu. You need to head to Settings > System > Gestures > Quick Tap to start actions and turn on Use Quick Tap. Once done, you can pick what you want your phone to do when you double tap the back. Pixel phones only support a double tap, not a triple tap, which is a bit disappointing.
If you have a Samsung phone, there’s no built-in back tap feature by default. You need to download Samsung’s Good Lock app and use its RegiStar module to enable back-tap functionality. Once you open it, you can enable and customize what a double or triple tap does.
For most other Android phones, using the back tap feature requires a third-party app like Tap, Tap. It uses accessibility services and sensors to detect taps. That might sound overly technical or even unreliable, but in practice, it works surprisingly well.
What I use it for every single day
The shortcuts I can’t live without
Back tap offers a few different options, like accessing Google Assistant, opening apps, playing or pausing media, showing notifications, and more. It’s also handy if one of your phone’s hardware buttons is broken, and you want to capture screenshots. These are great use cases, no doubt, but I like to use them for things that would otherwise take me several taps.
The first thing I use it for is note-taking. I have mine set, so a double tap on the back creates a new note. Sure, this is also possible with a simple widget, but accessing it usually requires leaving the app I’m in, going to the home screen that has the widget, and then tapping on it. With back tap, I can jump right into the Notes app no matter what I’m doing on my phone. It almost feels like pulling a sticky note out of thin air. And if I don’t feel like typing, I can even set it to start a voice note instead.
The second thing I rely on daily is opening my work email in Gmail. I have multiple accounts signed in, and switching between them manually feels like a lot of work, especially when I’m in a rush. Instead, I now simply triple tap on the back of my phone and jump to my work inbox.
It can do a lot more
Where it shines
If you look past the obvious shortcuts, back tap can do a lot. For messaging apps like Slack, WhatsApp, Messenger, and others, you can set up a back tap to get to a specific conversation or group chat. The same works for your Instagram DMs or even text messages.
You can also set up a back tap to jump to a specific folder in the Files app. And this also works for Google Drive folders, so you can jump to folders that you’ve backed up.
In Samsung Wallet and other similar apps, this gesture can help you quickly pull up all your digital IDs, payment cards, or event tickets. This is handy when you’re traveling somewhere and need fast access to these things.
It gets better as you install more apps
The best thing about the back tap feature is it gives you more options as you install more apps. Every new app you install is another potential shortcut. For instance, you can install the Pomodoro app, which lets you start the timer for focused work sessions. With Amazon, you can jump straight to deals, orders, and cart. With Gemini, you can use its camera feature or voice mode to talk to AI with a couple of taps. And the list goes on.