Does Your Android Phone Have A Hidden Button? Here's How It Works

Google has loaded the Android operating system with several features that might be unknown to users, including a "hidden button" that's only available on select phones. There have been a spate of videos on social media platforms showing a person tapping the back of an Android phone to perform certain tasks, leading some users to believe that there's a secret button in their phone’s back panel. It would be exciting if all Android phones had this feature, but it's actually a software trick, and only available on a handful of smartphones.

The feature is called Quick Tap. It relies on a sensor called an accelerometer that detects a change in the relative position of the phone to estimate motion and the tapping action. Then, the operating system interprets the back taps as a command for executing a quick action, such as opening a specific app or taking a screenshot. Unfortunately, Quick Tap is a Pixel-exclusive feature, and is only supported on the Pixel 4a (5G) and newer Pixel devices.

Related: Green Dot On Android Phone: What It Means & Why It's Important

Samsung Phones Have A Workaround

Samsung users can also make use of this feature, but they will need to download the company's Good Lock app from the Galaxy Store first, since it's not natively built into the software. Once users install the app, they can enable the back tap action from the options available. There are other third-party apps that can unlock the back tap feature on other Android smartphones, but users should make sure they're from a trusted developer before allowing system access.

Interestingly, iPhones also have a Back Tap feature baked into iOS. Users can enable the feature in the 'Touch' section of the 'Accessibility' menu in Settings. Back Tap on iPhones detects both double and triple taps, and can perform even more actions than Pixel's Quick Tap. To put this into context, the iPhone can perform dozens of Back Tap functions, while Pixel's Quick Tap is restricted to a handful. Either way, for those who have a compatible Android phone, the Quick Tap feature is worth checking out.