What Assistive Touch does and why you might use it
Assistive Touch is a built-in feature on iPhone and iPad that creates an on-screen button you can tap instead of using physical buttons or gestures. When you enable it, a small circle appears on your screen that you can move anywhere. Tapping that circle opens a menu of actions — including the ability to confirm or cancel things without reaching for your device's physical buttons.
This matters if you have limited hand mobility, arthritis, tremors, or any condition that makes it hard to press buttons or perform multi-finger gestures like swiping or pinching. Instead of stretching to reach the power button or home button, you tap the on-screen circle and select what you need from a menu.
Confirming actions through Assistive Touch means you can accept alerts, close apps, restart your device, or perform other confirmations entirely through tapping — without needing to use Face ID, Touch ID, or physical buttons.
Key Takeaways
- Assistive Touch creates an on-screen button that opens a menu of actions you can perform by tapping instead of using physical buttons.
- You turn on Assistive Touch in Settings under Accessibility, then Assistive Touch, and toggle it on.
- The on-screen circle can be moved anywhere on your screen and customized to show different actions in its menu.
- To confirm actions, tap the Assistive Touch circle and select the action you need — such as "Device" to access power options or "Siri" to use voice control.
- You can customize which actions appear in the Assistive Touch menu so the ones you use most are easiest to reach.
Turning on Assistive Touch
Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. Tap Accessibility, then scroll down and tap Assistive Touch. Toggle the switch next to Assistive Touch to on — it will turn green.
A small circle will when ready appear on your screen. This is your Assistive Touch button. You can move it by dragging it to any edge of the screen, and it will stay there until you move it again. The button does not interfere with normal tapping — it floats on top of everything else.
Opening the Assistive Touch menu and finding confirm options
Tap the Assistive Touch circle once. A menu will appear showing several options, typically including Device, Siri, Favorites, and more. Each option leads to different actions you can perform.
To confirm actions, you will most often use the Device menu. Tap Device and you will see options like Lock Screen, Restart, Force Restart, and others. You can also use Siri by tapping the Assistive Touch circle and selecting Siri, then speaking your command aloud — useful if tapping is difficult.
If an alert appears on your screen asking you to confirm something (like "Delete this photo?" or "Sign out?"), you can tap the Assistive Touch circle, navigate to the action you need, or straightforward tap the on-screen buttons in the alert itself — Assistive Touch does not replace those buttons, it just gives you another way to reach them.
Customizing the Assistive Touch menu
The default Assistive Touch menu shows several options, but you can change which actions appear there. Go back to Settings, tap Accessibility, then Assistive Touch. Tap Customize Top Level Menu.
You will see a list of available actions. Tap the plus or minus buttons next to each one to add or remove it from your menu. The actions that appear most often in your workflow should stay in the top-level menu so you do not have to dig through submenus to reach them.
Common actions to keep in your menu include Device (for power and restart options), Siri (for voice commands), and Favorites (for actions you use frequently). You can add up to eight items to the top-level menu.
Using Assistive Touch to confirm without physical buttons
When you need to confirm an action and want to avoid using physical buttons, tap the Assistive Touch circle. If the action you need is in the top-level menu, tap it directly. If it is nested in a submenu, tap the category first (like Device), then tap the specific action.
For example, to lock your screen without pressing the power button, tap the Assistive Touch circle, tap Device, then tap Lock Screen. To restart your device, tap the circle, tap Device, then tap Restart. The menu will stay open until you complete the action or tap elsewhere on the screen to close it.
If an app or system alert is asking you to confirm something, you can also just tap the on-screen buttons in the alert itself — Confirm, Cancel, Delete, or whatever the alert offers. Assistive Touch gives you the option to do this without physical buttons, but it does not replace the standard buttons that appear in alerts.
Troubleshooting common issues
If the Assistive Touch circle is in the way of what you are trying to do, drag it to a different edge of the screen. It will snap to the nearest edge and stay out of your way.
If the menu is not appearing when you tap the circle, make sure Assistive Touch is actually turned on in Settings. Go back to Accessibility, Assistive Touch, and confirm the toggle is green. If it is on but the menu still does not appear, try tapping the circle again — sometimes a single tap opens the menu, and a double tap performs a different action.
If you accidentally enabled Assistive Touch and want to turn it off, go to Settings, Accessibility, Assistive Touch, and toggle it off. The circle will disappear when ready.
Other ways to confirm actions on your device
Assistive Touch is one option, but your iPhone or iPad offers other ways to confirm actions without physical buttons. Voice Control lets you speak commands aloud to perform almost any action on your device — you can say "Tap confirm" or "Tap delete" and your device will do it.
Switch Control is another accessibility feature that lets you navigate your device using external switches or buttons connected to your device. If you have limited hand mobility, exploring both Voice Control and Switch Control in the Accessibility settings may give you options that work better for your situation than Assistive Touch alone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use Assistive Touch to confirm Face ID or Touch ID?
No. Face ID and Touch ID are security features that require your face or fingerprint — they cannot be bypassed through Assistive Touch or any other accessibility feature. However, you can use Assistive Touch to access other unlock methods, such as entering your passcode manually or using Siri to perform actions that do not require authentication.
Does Assistive Touch work in all apps?
Yes. The Assistive Touch circle and menu are always available, even inside apps. However, some apps may not respond to certain Assistive Touch commands if those commands conflict with the app's own controls. The Device menu and Siri always work system-wide.
Can I hide the Assistive Touch circle when I am not using it?
The circle is always visible when Assistive Touch is on, but you can move it to the edge of the screen where it takes up minimal space. There is no option to hide it completely without turning off Assistive Touch entirely. If you find it distracting, you can toggle it off in Settings and turn it back on only when you need it.
What if I tap the Assistive Touch circle by accident?
The menu will open. straightforward tap elsewhere on the screen to close it, or wait a few seconds and it will close on its own. Accidental taps are normal — moving the circle to an edge of the screen reduces how often this happens.
Can I assign custom actions to the Assistive Touch circle?
You can customize which actions appear in the menu, but you cannot assign a single custom action to a single tap of the circle itself. You can, however, add frequently used actions to your Favorites menu within Assistive Touch, which reduces the number of taps needed to reach them.