Having a hard time reading the tiny type on your Android or iPhone screen? Believe me, you’re not the only one.
Springing for a new pair of reading glasses is one solution, or you could always “pinch” to zoom, say, a web page in Safari or Android’s Chrome browser.
But here’s another idea: by tweaking a key setting, you can zoom the entire display on your iPhone or Android phone, no matter what app you’re using.
Ready to give it a try? Here we go…
Want to zoom the entire display on your iPhone? A three-finger tap will do the trick.
On an iPhone:
- From your iPhone home screen, tap Settings, General, Accessibility, Zoom, then switch Zoom to “On.” You can also get quick access to the Zoom feature through the Home key.
- Now double-tap the screen with three fingers at once, and well … zoom!
- Want to pan around your zoomed-in iPhone display? Just swipe around as your normally would, expect using three fingertips at once rather than just one.
- You can also adjust the magnification level by double-tapping and holding with three fingers (it’s a “tap” and a “hold,” not a double-tap and then a hold), then dragging your fingertips up (to increase the zoom level) or down (to decrease the magnification).
- Had enough? Double-tap the screen with three fingers again to make it jump back to the normal view.
You can temporarily zoom an Android display with a single-finger triple tap.
On an Android phone:
- Tap Settings, then scroll down and tap Accessibility. (Note: These steps will vary depending on the make and model of your Android phone. I tested this tip on a Samsung Galaxy Nexus running on Android version 4.2.1.)
- Tap “Magnification gestures,” then flip the switch at the top of the screen to “On.”
- Now, try this: go back to the home screen, then triple-tap the display with one finger. Zoom!
- Next, pan around the screen with three fingertips on the display at once.
- Want to boost or reduce the magnification? Pinch the screen with two fingertips.
- Ready to go back to normal? Triple-tap the display with one finger to turn the magnification off.
- The latest version of Android will also let you temporarily magnify the display. Just triple-tap and hold, then pan around with your fingertip. The moment you release your finger, the display will revert to normal.
Tip
So, did you lock your iPhone while the display was still magnified, and is the “Slide to unlock” slider somewhere off the screen? Don’t panic.
Just double-tap the display with three fingers, and the display will instantly un-zoom, revealing the slider again.
How to zoom the entire display