Zoom Control in Accessibility

In this video, we’re going to take a look at the zoom option we have on the iPhone. This is not for the camera; this is an accessibility option that allows us to zoom in on our iPhone to make things larger on our iPhone so we can easily read it. I personally use this when I do not have my readers on me. Let’s take a look at the zoom option or the zoom accessibility option; we have on the iPhone. Let’s go to my iPhone.

The first thing we need to do before we can use it is to turn it on. This is located in the Settings app. It’s under accessibility, so now I tap on this, and then what we need to do is we need to go to Accessibility. Up towards the top, you’re going to see Zoom, and it is off by default. I tap on this. And from here, I can turn it on.

Now, before I turn it on, let’s take a look at the basics of how this works. You’re going to see we have some simple instructions here.

If I double-tap with three fingers, it’s going to zoom in on my iPhone. That’s basically how we turn it on.

We double-tap with three fingers on the display of our iPhone.

If I drag three fingers around, it’s going to allow me to move around the screen.

And then if I double-tap with three fingers and drag, it’s going to change the zoom level.

The fourth option here, which is not shown, is if we triple tap on it, we will have a nice little modal where we have some more options.

So now, let’s see this in action. The first thing I need to do is I need to tap on the slider here. When I do that, it zooms in. This is what zoom is. It allows me to zoom in on my iPhone. Now being that we’re zoomed in, I can’t read the entire iPhone. So now what I need to do is I need to move around. Well, remember how we do that? I take three fingers on my iPhone, and then I just drag around, and we can move around on our iPhone here. I want to zoom back out; I double-tap with three fingers, one-two, it zooms out. So that’s the basics. I double-tap with three fingers – it zooms in. I can take three fingers and drag them around. And then I double-tap with three fingers – it zooms back out.

What about the zoom level? Well, down at the bottom here, you’re going to see we have the maximum zoom level, this is how far it is going to zoom in, but we can adjust that zoom level. One way of doing that is double-tapping with three fingers and then dragging to change the zoom. I prefer to use the modal box to do this. So instead of double-tapping with three fingers and then dragging, I like to triple-tap with three fingers. It’s also easy to remember. Now what I’m going to do is triple-tap with three fingers, one, two, three, and we can see we have a model here. From here, what I’m able to do is zoom in; this is just like double-tapping with three fingers. I tap on it. I’m zoomed in. I’m going to triple-tap with three fingers again to get that box at the modal box – one, two, three. Now I want to zoom out. I Tap on zoom out; it zooms out. So pretty basic – one, two, three, we’re back at our modal box.

I can choose my region. I can apply filter. I can also show a controller. I’ll talk about that shortly, and then I can adjust the zoom level. Now I just take the slider here, and I can adjust how far I want to zoom in and out. So now what it’s going to do when I double-tap with three fingers here, it’s going to zoom in and out at that magnification. So I double-tap with three fingers, it zooms out, I double-tap with three fingers. It zooms in at that magnification level that I set. Double-tap with three fingers again, it zooms out.

Now, also what we can do is we can show a controller. I like to use the controller. Again, it makes it a little bit easier to use. So now I triple-tap with three fingers again – one, two, three – we have our modal box, and you’re going to see we have a controller. When I tap on show controller, we have a nice little controller here. I can easily zoom in on my iPhone just by tapping on it and then moving my finger around. Now I tap on it, and then it zooms in, and I can easily move my finger around to change what I’m zooming into. This is why I really like this. I let go, it zooms back out. So again, I just tap and hold and then zooms in. I move my finger; I can easily zoom in on any area on my iPhone.

Now, if I just tap and drag this, what it does is, it moves this little controller around. This is a little tricky. You just have to tap and then drag. You don’t want to tap and hold because then it’s going to zoom in. You need to tap and drag, and you can move it around anywhere on your iPhone.

If you tap and hold, it zooms in. And then I can just move around. If you want to show that modal box with a controller, I tap on this, and now we have our modal box. All you have to do is just tap on that controller once. This is why I like the controller.

Also, what I can easily do is just hide the controller. So now I no longer need the controller. I just tap on this, and it hides it. I tap anywhere outside to close the modal box, and we’re back to normal here. I’m going to swipe up from the bottom to get to my home screen. Now, what I want to do is I want to zoom in; how do I zoom in? I can double-tap with two fingers, one, two, and I’m zoomed in. I can use three fingers to move around. I double-tap with three fingers; it zooms back out. I want to show the controller – you triple-tap with three fingers – one, two, three – we have our modal here, and now I can show the controller. Now we’re going to see we have our controller down here. To zoom in, I tap and hold, and now I can zoom in. I can drag this around by tapping and then dragging. And then if I want to show the modal box again, maybe I want to change the zoom level or even hide the controller, a tap on this. We have the modal box. I can change my zoom level as well as hide the controller.

So that’s how zoom works on the iPhone. Again, this is an accessibility feature, so we need to go to our Settings app, and then Accessibility. With the Zoom feature, what we’re able to do is zoom in on the iPhone. We can make things larger, make them easier to read. Again, I use this when I forget my readers. Once you turn it on, if you double-tap with three fingers, it’ll zoom in. You drag around with three fingers; you can change or reposition what you’re zoomed into. You can also triple-tap on it, once it has turned on, to get a modal box, and then you can adjust your zoom level and show the controller.

When you show the controller, you tap and hold on it; it zooms in. And then you just drag around to reposition what you’re zoomed into. If you want to move the control, you tap and drag immediately, and you can move the controller. To show the modal box again, maybe you want to hide the controller or change your zoom level; you just tap on the little control when shown, and then you can hide it or change your zoom level.

So that’s the zoom accessibility option that allows you to zoom into the display on your iPhone.