2023 Author: Gordon Kinson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:09
Apple is renowned for constantly delivering small and subtle features that can dramatically improve the performance of your iPhone or iPad. And iOS 14 introduces a hidden and unpublished gesture that lets you navigate apps and menus faster than ever.
When you dig deep into the branched application menus or jump from page to page, it's easy to lose sight of where you are. You can open another menu and do it over and over until you finally figure out your location. Also, when it comes to the Settings app, the search tool is only available on the home page. If you need to look at some other menu item, then you cannot go directly to it.
Let's say you're viewing the history of a specific location in the Auto Answer Calls menu and want to go back to the beginning to check for software updates or enable some accessibility features. You will have to follow the path Auto Answer Calls → Sound Source → Touch → Accessibility → Settings by pressing the Back button in the upper left corner or swiping to the right from the left edge of the screen. You have to make at least five swipes or touches to return to the main settings page. Is it convenient? Perhaps not very much.
How to quickly navigate menus within apps
With the release of iOS 14, Apple has made it easier to navigate back to a specific page, and this applies to almost all of the company's apps, but also works in many third-party apps. While deep in the application, press and hold the " <Back " button in the upper left corner (the button may have a different name). A small pop-up directory menu appears with all the pages in the history of the current navigation path. This list is built up in reverse order and shows the current location - each page or item in the navigation sequence.
Instead of tapping or scrolling backward through the menu several times, tapping the screen several times, hold your finger on the <Back button and go directly to the page you want. Now release your finger. You will find yourself in the right place.
This trick is not limited to the Settings app alone. You will see a list of menus to return to in apps such as the App Store, Books, Calendar, Clock, Contacts, FaceTime, Files, Keynote, Mail, Music, Notes, Numbers, Pages, Phone, Photos, Podcasts, and Safari.
Third-party apps can also get this feature through the UIMenu container, so you may soon see a similar menu in the navigation bar in some of the more commonly used apps.
See also:
- Translate to iPhone: How to use the built-in Translate in iOS.
- IPhone picture-in-picture: how to turn it on and use.
- New in iOS 14: How to hide unwanted application pages from the home screen on iPhone and iPad.
