Tapping on your screen to get around your phone is overrated. Shortcuts offer an arguably better and faster way to navigate your device. On a Google Pixel, some of these shortcuts are conveniently built into the power and volume buttons.
Double pressing the power button can launch the Camera app or your Wallet, while holding down the same button lets you talk to Google Gemini or power down your phone. The volume buttons, on the other hand, are mainly for controls. When you press the volume up and power buttons together, you can mute your phone. When you use them in the Camera app, you can either snap a photo or zoom in and out.
But other than these three buttons, your Google Pixel is actually hiding another nifty button that you can assign shortcuts to — right on the back of your phone. No, there isn’t a visible button there. What it does have is a feature that can detect double taps. This back-tap gesture was first introduced with Android 11, and it continues to be a handy function on many of Google’s phones, from the Pixel 4a up to the latest Google Pixel 10 Pro XL. We’ll walk you through how to enable and use it.
How to set up your Pixel phone’s back-tap gesture
Enabling the back-tap gesture on your Pixel phone is pretty straightforward. Here’s what you need to do:
- Navigate to the Settings app.
- Choose “System.”
- Tap on “Gestures.”
- Head over to “Quick Tap to start actions.”
- Toggle on “Use Quick Tap.”
- Under “Tap back of phone twice to,” pick your preferred action:
- Take a screenshot: Captures a screenshot like usual.
- Access your digital assistant: Activates Gemini or Google Assistant, whichever one you initially chose as your digital assistant (side note: Gemini is set to completely replace Google Assistant in 2026, so the AI assistant might be your only option moving forward).
- Play or pause media: Play or pause audio and video playback.
- See recent apps: Opens the recent apps list.
- Show notifications: Displays your active notifications.
- Toggle flashlight: Switches on the LED flash.
- Open app: Launches an app of your choosing.
If you choose “Open app,” tap the gear icon to select your preferred app. Some apps offer more than one action, which you can view by pressing the gear icon next to the app. For instance, Camera lets you choose between opening the app, taking a video, and taking a selfie.
After configuring Quick Tap, you can try tapping twice on the back of your phone, somewhere in the middle. It should automatically perform the action you set. If you don’t want to trigger Quick Tap on accident — maybe while you’re just holding your device or while it’s inside your pocket or bag, you can turn on “Require stronger taps” from the Quick Tap menu.
