How can I make one-handed handling of my iPhone 13 Pro better?
April 20, 2022 10:58 AM Subscribe
I don't have tiny hands, I don't have huge hands, but apparently, the hands I do have are not big enough to comfortably use an iPhone 13 Pro (not Max) one-handledly because I can't reach the top half of the screen. I know about Reachability, and I've turned on the AssistiveTouch "circle" menu, but it gets in the way of other things, and using double-back-tap is a hit-or-miss affair. What else can I try?
On my iPhone 6s, reaching the top required a bit of a hand stretch but I could do it. On my new iPhone 13 Pro, I can't do it at all, making single-handed access to Control Center impossible—and of course, any buttons or icons in the upper part of the phone screen are also unreacheable. You can turn on the AssistiveTouch menu and configure it to provide buttons for Control Center and Reachability, and that's a huge help, but the circle keeps getting in the way of app buttons on the screen, leading to me to have to move it around all the time and it's just getting annoying.
Setting up back tap is be an option, but when I'm grasping the phone one-handed, doing a back tap with the same hand is difficult and I succeed only half the time. Plus, it appears to be impossible to make back tap bring up the AssistiveTouch menu itself, so you're more limited in the functions you can access.
I'm considering getting a case with a finger loop on the back, or a magnetic finger loop widget, but all the ones I've seen increase the thickness of the case, or the magnets are weak, or they prevent you from using a magnetic car holder.
I can't possibly be the only average-sized male with this problem. What have others among you done to deal with this?
On my iPhone 6s, reaching the top required a bit of a hand stretch but I could do it. On my new iPhone 13 Pro, I can't do it at all, making single-handed access to Control Center impossible—and of course, any buttons or icons in the upper part of the phone screen are also unreacheable. You can turn on the AssistiveTouch menu and configure it to provide buttons for Control Center and Reachability, and that's a huge help, but the circle keeps getting in the way of app buttons on the screen, leading to me to have to move it around all the time and it's just getting annoying.
Setting up back tap is be an option, but when I'm grasping the phone one-handed, doing a back tap with the same hand is difficult and I succeed only half the time. Plus, it appears to be impossible to make back tap bring up the AssistiveTouch menu itself, so you're more limited in the functions you can access.
I'm considering getting a case with a finger loop on the back, or a magnetic finger loop widget, but all the ones I've seen increase the thickness of the case, or the magnets are weak, or they prevent you from using a magnetic car holder.
I can't possibly be the only average-sized male with this problem. What have others among you done to deal with this?
I don't have an iPhone but I do have a large Android phone.
Are you able to move the more frequently-accessed things lower on the screen and put the least touched at the top?
For instance, I saw a bunch of people complaining on Twitter a few months ago and got the impression that Apple had moved the location bar on Safari to the bottom of the screen from the top. I believe the outrage was so much that the next update moved it back to the top but there is a switch in the settings to move it back to the bottom. Perhaps other apps have similar options in their settings?
You can also adjust the way you hold the phone. Most people use the bottom of their phone as the thing that stops the phone from sliding through their hands — if you're right handed you probably use the bottom right edge of the phone in the cradle of your hand or your pinky on the left, bottom side, or both. On my Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, I place my right index finger on the base of the camera bump to stop the phone sliding through my hands. This puts the bottom of my phone below my hand (I'm essentially resting the middle of the phone in my hand rather than holding onto the bottom). This allows my thumb to reach above the top edge of the phone to pull down the menus, but I can also pivot my wrist with the phone held flat in my hand for the same thumb to reach the bottom of the phone.
posted by dobbs at 11:12 AM on April 20, 2022
Are you able to move the more frequently-accessed things lower on the screen and put the least touched at the top?
For instance, I saw a bunch of people complaining on Twitter a few months ago and got the impression that Apple had moved the location bar on Safari to the bottom of the screen from the top. I believe the outrage was so much that the next update moved it back to the top but there is a switch in the settings to move it back to the bottom. Perhaps other apps have similar options in their settings?
You can also adjust the way you hold the phone. Most people use the bottom of their phone as the thing that stops the phone from sliding through their hands — if you're right handed you probably use the bottom right edge of the phone in the cradle of your hand or your pinky on the left, bottom side, or both. On my Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, I place my right index finger on the base of the camera bump to stop the phone sliding through my hands. This puts the bottom of my phone below my hand (I'm essentially resting the middle of the phone in my hand rather than holding onto the bottom). This allows my thumb to reach above the top edge of the phone to pull down the menus, but I can also pivot my wrist with the phone held flat in my hand for the same thumb to reach the bottom of the phone.
posted by dobbs at 11:12 AM on April 20, 2022
Phone Loops add no thickness to the case and make back tap a lot easier.
posted by soelo at 11:23 AM on April 20, 2022
posted by soelo at 11:23 AM on April 20, 2022
How exactly do the Phone Loops work? (I'm experiencing the same issue with the same phone.)
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 11:28 AM on April 20, 2022
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 11:28 AM on April 20, 2022
By knowing about reachability you know about the pull down at the bottom of the screen? That shouldn’t get in the way of anything else.
My recommendation is to learn to hold the phone closer to the middle of it. Takes some getting used to, but I don’t think about it anymore. Works best with no case and maybe a matte grip field on the back.
posted by michaelh at 11:30 AM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
My recommendation is to learn to hold the phone closer to the middle of it. Takes some getting used to, but I don’t think about it anymore. Works best with no case and maybe a matte grip field on the back.
posted by michaelh at 11:30 AM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
I did not know about Phone Loops, but for my 12 Pro Max I invented them independently with a simple piece of satin ribbon — going horizontally rather than vertically. I wrap the ribbon around the back of the case, put the ends of the ribbon against the inner back of the case, then put my phone in the case on top of the ribbon. The tight fit of my phone case keeps them there (with just a little bit of give over time, so I adjust maybe once a month). It doesn't interfere with MagSafe charging.
Conrad Cornelius o'Donnell o'Dell, the way they work is, they let you stabilize your phone in your hand with just a non-grasping finger or two, so your thumb is free to wander over longer distances because you're not gripping your phone at a spot in the bottom half. Sometimes there are still long reaches for my thumb but it's rare enough to not be a bother.
posted by xueexueg at 11:36 AM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Conrad Cornelius o'Donnell o'Dell, the way they work is, they let you stabilize your phone in your hand with just a non-grasping finger or two, so your thumb is free to wander over longer distances because you're not gripping your phone at a spot in the bottom half. Sometimes there are still long reaches for my thumb but it's rare enough to not be a bother.
posted by xueexueg at 11:36 AM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Phone Loops are a ribbon with sticky ends that go inside your case and the loop part sticks out. If you are asking about how they help, I find it easier to hold onto my phone while performing weird finger acrobatics when I can keep my pinky in the loop.
posted by soelo at 11:40 AM on April 20, 2022
posted by soelo at 11:40 AM on April 20, 2022
Best answer: I have a detachable pop socket thing which functions similarly, enables me to use the lesser fingers (middle finger and ring finger) to control the phone body to make on-screen tasks easier with thumb. It's secure but also can kind of slide up and down a little on the case if you need it positioned differently for different applications.
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:04 PM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:04 PM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
I didn't use one for a long time because I have large hands, but I swear by Popsockets now. Set it in the middle of the back of your phone. Usually I hold the Popsocket between my index and middle finger, but if I need to I'll switch to between my middle and ring finger, and then I can easily reach the entire phone screen with my thumb. Only problem is that you can't use a wireless charger if you use one.
posted by markslack at 12:49 PM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by markslack at 12:49 PM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
If you like the Phone Loop/PopSocket idea, but you also want to display your basketball fandom, you could get one of these.
posted by box at 1:01 PM on April 20, 2022
posted by box at 1:01 PM on April 20, 2022
Best answer: It does add a small amount of thickness and does prevent me from using wireless charging, but in all other ways I love this ring on the back of my phone. It makes it much easier to reach the full screen, easier to carry my phone without worrying that I might drop it, and it is made of a material that I feel confident in occasionally wiping down to clean. It's magnetic, so I can attach the phone to a magnet on my car dashboard and it stays there. I very frequently make use of the ring as a stand for the phone in landscape orientation as well. Also, it's shaped like a cat and makes me smile, which is worth a lot too.
The only actual complaint I have is that given a year or two of fiddling with it every day, I do eventually break down the stiffness of the ring in holding its position. But, since otherwise it works well for me, I just replace it every few years with a new one.
posted by past unusual at 2:07 PM on April 20, 2022
The only actual complaint I have is that given a year or two of fiddling with it every day, I do eventually break down the stiffness of the ring in holding its position. But, since otherwise it works well for me, I just replace it every few years with a new one.
posted by past unusual at 2:07 PM on April 20, 2022
Best answer: The MagSafe PopGrip holds really well and can be easily slid off for magnetic mounts and charging.
posted by advicepig at 2:35 PM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by advicepig at 2:35 PM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions! Some replies and a current status update:
posted by StrawberryPie at 10:51 AM on April 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
- @michaelh: I do know about the bottom pull-down, but I find it very hard to use successfully. I only succeed about 1/4 times when I make that motion, and the rest of the time I cause something else to happen, which wastes time and causes frustration. I had stopped trying to use it some time ago, but your comment reminded me of it again, so I tried it again off and on for the past several days, and it's just not improving for me. It's possible my failures are due to the shifting angles at which my thumb makes the motion when I'm holding the phone one-handed, and it's possible I could eventually train myself to improve it, but I'm at the point now of just giving up on it (again).
- Re Phone loops: I had never seen those before—thank you for mentioning them! Unfortunately, I don't think it would work well with my particular phone case because it doesn't have a full opening over the camera bump and because the case material is so thin that I think its edges would bend from the force of the strap pulling on it. However, it might yet work (especially if I get a different case), so this may yet be a fall-back solution.
- I had tried pop-socket type things in the past and had not seen a magnetic version—this looks promising and may be worth trying after what I'm trying now …
- … which is this magnetic loop. Similar to what @past unusual uses but different in design, this one has proven to have the strongest magnets of any I've found so far (after trying 3 others), and I like the multiple options for holding the phone (using either the rubber strap or the metal loop). Also, it's very thin: attached over my phone case, it still only protrudes a hair past the camera bump, which means I can leave it on when I put the phone in my pocket
posted by StrawberryPie at 10:51 AM on April 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:10 AM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]