Hot topics

Activate this Secret HyperOS Touch Gesture on your Xiaomi Smartphone

xiaomi miui 12 full review hero
© nextpit

Read in other languages:

With HyperOS, you can create shortcuts on your Xiaomi smartphone with a "secret" gesture called Back tap. By tapping the back of your Xiaomi smartphone, you can launch the camera or switch to silent mode in an instant. In this tutorial, nextpit shows you how to activate this HyperOS feature.

This feature is available in HyperOS (review) and also MIUI 14 (review). It's a tap gesture at the back of your Xiaomi smartphone you can assign to several types of shortcuts. Your Xiaomi smartphone can recognize two variations of this gesture: a double tap and a triple tap. This Back tap shortcut works even if your smartphone is locked or in standby mode.

To activate the HyperOS Back tap function on your Xiaomi smartphone:

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Go to Additional settings.
  3. Go to Gesture shortcuts.
  4. Scroll down and press Back tap.
  5. Choose Double back tap or Triple back tap.
  6. Select the action you wish to associate with the gesture.

Overall, you can choose from seven shortcuts to assign to each of the two Back tap gestures:

  Back tap shortcut
Shortcut 1 Notification shade
Shortcut 2 Launch Google Assistant
Shortcut 3 Launch camera
Shortcut 4 Calculator
Shortcut 5 Silent mode
Shortcut 6 Get issue-related logs
Shortcut 7 TalkBack

For this tutorial, I set up the Back tap shortcut on a Xiaomi 14 (review). Activating the shortcut was a fairly straightforward affair, with both double and triple back taps. However, you need to be extremely precise by tapping the top half of the smartphone's back, right below the camera module. When I tapped further down, I had to perform the action a couple of times more to get it to work.

Personally, I found this shortcut rather useful. Launching the camera is a bit redundant since you can already do so by pressing the volume button twice. Ditto for Google Assistant, which can be invoked via a long press of the power button.

In terms of accessibility, activating TalkBack mode via Back tap seems to be an excellent idea. As a reminder, this Android accessibility mode makes it easier for the visually impaired to navigate their smartphone's interface using audio comments and tactile feedback. Being able to activate it in HyperOS with a simple Back tap gesture is therefore a very good idea from Xiaomi.

That's all for this tutorial on how to activate HyperOS's Back Tap function on your Xiaomi smartphone. Did you find this article useful? Are you already using Back Tap on your Xiaomi handset?


Article updated in June 2024 with renewed instructions for Xiaomi's HyperOS.

The current best Samsung phones to buy

  Editor's choice S23 with a bigger display 2023 flagship 2023 foldable flagship 2022 fodlable flagship 2023 compact foldable 2022 compact foldable Affordable flagship The popular mid-ranger
Product
Image Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Product Image Samsung Galaxy S23+ Product Image Samsung Galaxy S23 Product Image Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Product Image Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 Product Image Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Product Image Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 Product Image Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Product Image Samsung Galaxy A54 Product Image
Review
Review: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Review: Samsung Galaxy S23+
Review: Samsung Galaxy S23
Review: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
Review: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4
Review: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5
Review: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4
Not yet tested
Hands-on: Samsung Galaxy S23 FE
Review: Samsung Galaxy A54
Price
  • $1,199.99
  • $999.99
  • $799.99
  • $1,799.99
  • $1,799.99
  • from $999.99
  • $999.99
  • $699.99
  • $449.99
Offer*
nextpit receives a commission for purchases made via the marked links. This has no influence on the editorial content and there are no costs for you. You can find out more about how we make money on our transparency page.
Go to comment (3)
Antoine Engels

Antoine Engels
Senior Editor

Black belt in specs sheet analysis. OnePlus fanboy in (slow) remission. Average estimated reading time of my articles: 48 minutes. Tech deals fact-checker in my spare time. Hates talking about himself in the 3rd person. Dreams he was a gaming journalist in another life. Doesn't get the concept of irony. Head of editorial for NextPit France.

To the author profile
Liked this article? Share now!
Recommended articles
Latest articles
Push notification Next article
3 comments
Write new comment:
All changes will be saved. No drafts are saved when editing
Write new comment:
All changes will be saved. No drafts are saved when editing

  • Marc Kersten 8
    Marc Kersten 1 week ago Link to comment

    Doesnt seem to work when using the bigger inner screen on my Mi Mix Fold 3. Also has additional option "control center" on Chinese ROM.


  • 2
    fckptn Mar 6, 2022 Link to comment

    "Thus, in MIUI 12, we find the Back Tap feature" - This is not true. I have miui version 12.5.6.0 and there is no such feature there. Maybe It does not depend on MIUI but on smartphone model. So far, your article and especially the clickbait title is misleading.

    Zois Bekios Zannikos


    • Zois Bekios Zannikos 9
      Zois Bekios Zannikos Mar 7, 2022 Link to comment

      The feature has been present in devices since MIUI 12, but I could not find the feature in my Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro with MIUI 12.5.3 either.

      With some quick search, I could not find a list with devices that support it, but I could get a similar experience using a third-party app. Thank you for your feedback!

Write new comment:
All changes will be saved. No drafts are saved when editing