iOS 18 eye tracking: How to use your eyes to navigate iPhone like Apple Vision Pro

Why use your fingers when you can use your peepers?
 By 
Kimberly Gedeon
 on 
side-by-side photo of an iPhone and an eye
Eye tracking is coming to iPhone via iOS 18. Credit: Zyn Chakrapong / Hadrian / Shutterstock.com

The next big update, iOS 18, is set to deliver a new eye-tracking feature, allowing users to select contents on the screen without using their fingers. Apple announced this new accessibility perk shortly before WWDC 2024.

Now that the iOS 18 developer beta is out for users to test, we know how to launch the Apple Vision Pro-like feature.

iOS 18 eye tracking feature: How to use it

To use the new eye tracking feature, you must download the iOS 18 developer beta. Keep in mind, however, that this could be risky. This version is raw and unrefined — and it's not ready for primetime. Beware that downloading the developer beta comes with a risk of bugginess at best and inoperability at worst.


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If you insist on testing the iOS 18 eye tracking feature, make sure you take advantage of iPhone backup. Now that we've gotten that out the way, allow me to show you how to use the iOS 18 eye tracking feature:

  1. Go to Settings.

  2. Tap on Accessibility.

  3. Tap on Eye Tracking.

  4. Toggle on "Eye Tracking," ensuring the slider turns green.

  5. You will then get a prompt that says, "Follow the dot with your eyes as it moves around the screen."

  6. Follow the dots on the screen with your eyes until you get a white checkmark.

Now, you can use your eyes to navigate your iPhone via iOS 18. (Eye tracking is also available on iPadOS 18.)

iOS 18 is expected to officially hit users' phones later this year, presumably alongside the launch of the iPhone 16 series.

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Kimberly Gedeon
East Coast Tech Editor

Kimberly Gedeon, at Mashable since 2023, is a tech explorer who enjoys doing deep dives into the most popular gadgets, from the latest iPhones to the most immersive VR headsets. She's drawn to strange, avant-garde, bizarre tech, whether it's a 3D laptop, a gaming rig that can transform into a briefcase, or smart glasses that can capture video. Her journalism career kicked off about a decade ago at MadameNoire where she covered tech and business before landing as a tech editor at Laptop Mag in 2020.

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