The top of a large iPhone screen can be hard to reach with one hand. Reachability brings those controls lower so your thumb can reach them.

Reachability temporarily lowers the upper half of the display rather than shrinking text or changing the app layout. It works with the iPhone held upright in portrait orientation.

Reachability is not available on iPad or iPhone Duo. It moves onscreen content but does not silence or reduce alerts, which are controlled by notification settings and Focus.

Related: How to set up and configure AssistiveTouch on iPhone and iPad

Steps to enable and use Reachability on iPhone for one-handed navigation:

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap Accessibility.
  3. Tap Touch under Physical and Motor.
  4. Enable the Reachability switch.
  5. Swipe down on the bottom edge of the screen on an iPhone with Face ID.

    On an iPhone SE with a Home button, lightly double-tap the Home button instead of pressing it. If the page scrolls, the swipe started too high. Reachability responds only in portrait orientation.

  6. Confirm that the top of the Touch page has moved lower on the screen and is within reach of your thumb.

    To return to full screen, tap the empty upper half of the screen.

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