The home button is dead.
Apple announced the new iPhone 16E last week, replacing the iPhone SE and eliminating the home button once and for all.
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The iPhone SE has been Apple’s budget phone for nearly a decade, always featuring a home button, Touch ID and a Lightning port, which I know are relics of the past. But all those features are gone forever, replaced in the more modern iPhone 16E and the rest of the current iPhone lineup.
The home button for a long time had been the way to easily go back to your home screen from anywhere on your phone, whether you’re sending a text in the Messages app or scrolling through Instagram.
I personally don’t prefer the home button over the swipe gesture, which is the way to go home on newer iPhone models, but I see the appeal of the old way. There’s something to be said about the tactile feedback you get when you hit the home button, as well as its familiarity. It’s also much easier to reach, especially for those with dexterity issues.
So there are several benefits to it over the swipe gesture.
Still, the home button is gone and buried, unless of course you keep your older iPhone SE models, but eventually you’ll probably update your iPhone. And when you do, there’s a way that you can still use a home button on your newer iPhone, although it’s a bit of a workaround.
Here’s how to get a virtual home button on any iPhone, even on the newest iPhone SE.
How you can add a virtual home button to any iPhone
For this workaround, we’ll use AssistiveTouch, an accessibility feature that lets you control your iPhone without using any physical buttons. It’s meant for those who have difficulty using physical buttons or executing difficult gestures, instead simplifying restarting your phone, accessing the control center and more.
AssistiveTouch also helps you easily go home, just like the home button would, but instead of a physical button, you have a virtual one, on your screen, so it works on pretty much any iPhone.
To activate your virtual home screen, go to Settings > Accessibility > AssistiveTouch and toggle on the feature at the top. Once you do, you should see a floating control, which is the Assistive Touch menu.
Next, go to Single-Tap under Custom Action and choose Home. You can also have the button take you home when you double-tap it, or long press on it, but the single-tap option is best if that’s all you want the button for.
To go home, press the AssistiveTouch button once, and that will take you home.
You can move the button anywhere on your screen, but it will always live above whatever app you’re on. If you don’t like the look of the AssistiveTouch button, you can go back to the AssistiveTouch settings and lower the opacity, to make the button more transparent and less visible.
To disable it, simply toggle off Assistive Touch in your settings.
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