There are several reasons that your iPhone or iPad's Home button might not be currently working: Older iPhone and iPad models (pre-iPhone 7) have physical buttons, which can wear down with time, while the iPhone 7 and later has a Taptic Engine-driven "button" which won't work without skin (or other capacitative) contact. Whatever the reason, if you're having trouble with your Home button — or just don't want to use it — you can turn on a little-known Accessibility feature called AssistiveTouch to give yourself a virtual Home button on your screen.
How to add a virtual Home button to your iPhone or iPad with AssistiveTouch
- Launch Settings.
- Tap General.
- Tap Accessibility.
- Tap AssistiveTouch under the Interaction category.
- Tap the toggle switch to turn on AssistiveTouch.
- You should see a small rounded rectangle with a circle in the middle appear on your screen.
- Tap the AssistiveTouch icon to launch the on-screen controls.
- Tap Device.
- Tap and hold Lock Screen until the slide to power off prompt displays.
- Slide to power off.
Note: Having trouble with your On/Off button? You can also use this trick to help you turn off your iPhone!
Don't forget to visit the Apple Store (or fix it yourself)
Using AssistiveTouch is a nice patch, but it's no solution for an actual, working Home button. If you're still under warranty, you can get Apple to replace it for free; if not, the company still might replace it for a small fee. You can check your service and support coverage below:
If going to an Apple Store or through AppleCare is out of the question, you can also consider repairing it yourself — we have a number of guides on Home Button repair on our site.
Questions?
Let us know in the comments.
