Even people with tiny hands can use the iPhone X

Reachability is still a breeze, even without a home button.
 By 
Brett Williams
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo

One of Apple's biggest selling points for the new iPhone X is its gigantic screen — but for users with short fingers or small hands, that means actually being able to navigate the phone's 5.8-inch touch display could be a huge challenge.

Apple built a solution for small-handed people out there called "reachability," which was introduced to iOS along with the phablet-sized iPhone 6 Plus in 2014. All users have to do is tap the home button twice, and the top of the open app moves further down the screen for easier navigation.

When the iPhone X was officially unveiled, however, there were concerns about how reachability would work without a physical home button. There were even rumors that the company was planning to eliminate the "reachability" feature entirely, which would likely have made the 5.8-inch screen a hard sell for everyone who grew accustomed to the reachability in previous generations of iPhones.

Thankfully, a quick hands-on session with the iPhone X proves that the feature is still part of iOS.

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Reachability on the iPhone X is slightly different without the home button — and it might be even easier to use than it was before. Here's how:

Open Settings>General>Accessibility

Make sure "Reachability" is turned on.

Open an app.

Swipe down on the gesture bar on bottom of the screen. That should bring the top of the display down to a more accessible spot.

You can check out the process in this helpful video:

The size of the iPhone X's gorgeous new OLED display shouldn't scare off any potential buyers with size concerns with reachability still a key accessibility feature. People love big screens, so smartphone makers will be sure to include workarounds so everyone can use them easily, no matter the size of their hands.

Topics Apple iPhone

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Brett Williams

Brett Williams is a Tech Reporter at Mashable. He writes about tech news, trends and other tangentially related topics with a particular interest in wearables and exercise tech. Prior to Mashable, he wrote for Inked Magazine and Thrillist. Brett's work has also appeared on Fusion and AskMen, to name a few. You can follow Brett on Twitter @bdwilliams910.

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