How to Make It Easier to Use Your Phone One-Handed

As smartphones have evolved, their screens have grown larger, making one-handed operation increasingly difficult. Whether you're walking the dog, carrying groceries, or hanging onto a subway pole, there are moments when you only have one hand free to use your phone. Thankfully, both Android and iOS have integrated features and app-specific options to simplify one-handed use.

Methods for Android Phones

One-Handed Mode

Android devices come with a dedicated one-handed mode that shrinks the screen to make apps easier to reach. The activation method varies slightly by manufacturer:

• Pixel Phones (and most other Android phones):

  1. Go to Settings.

  2. Tap System > Gestures > One-handed mode.

  3. Enable the toggle switch.

• Samsung Galaxy Phones:

  1. Go to Settings.

  2. Tap Advanced features > One-handed mode.

  3. Enable the toggle switch.

To activate, swipe down on the screen, ensuring you swipe near the bottom to avoid refreshing the app. Tap anywhere above the shrunken app to return to full-screen view.

Enable a One-Handed Keyboard

You can adjust Android’s default Gboard keyboard to make it easier to use with one hand:

1. With the keyboard on screen, tap the four-box icon above the keyboard to the left.

2. Choose One-handed from the pop-up menu.

3. The keyboard will shift to one side of the screen. Use the arrow button to switch sides or the expand button to revert to normal.

Make Home Screen Apps Easier to Access

Position your most-used app shortcuts towards the bottom of your home screen for easier access. On Pixel phones, you can have a row of your most-used apps automatically appear at the bottom:

1. Open Settings.

2. Tap Apps > Default apps.

3. Tap the gear icon next to Pixel Launcher.

4. Tap Suggestions and enable Suggestions on Home screen.

Make Browsing Easier

On Samsung phones using the Samsung Internet Browser, you can move the address and search bar to the bottom:

1. Tap the hamburger menu (bottom right) then Settings.

2. Choose Layout and menus.

3. Enable Show toolbar at bottom and Show address bar at bottom.

In Firefox for Android, you can also move the toolbar to the bottom:

1. Tap the three dots (top right), then Settings > Customize.

2. Choose Bottom for the toolbar.

Methods for iPhones

One-Handed Mode

iOS features a one-handed mode called Reachability:

1. Open Settings.

2. Tap Accessibility > Touch.

3. Turn on the Reachability toggle switch.

A downward swipe near the bottom of the screen will shrink whatever is on the screen, making it easier to reach. Tap the arrow at the top of the window to return to normal.

One-Handed Keyboard

The iOS keyboard also has a one-handed mode:

1. With the keyboard on screen, long-press the icon in the lower left corner (globe or emoji symbol).

2. Tap the left or right keyboard layout to pin the keyboard to that side.

3. Use the white arrow to revert to the normal layout.

Make Browsing Easier

Chrome for iOS allows you to move the address and search bar to the bottom:

1. Tap the three dots (bottom right).

2. Choose Settings.

3. Tap Address bar, then select Bottom at the top of the screen.

Safari for iOS uses this layout by default, but you can reset it via Safari in iOS Settings under the Tabs heading if needed.

By utilizing these features, you can make navigating and operating your phone with one hand much more manageable, regardless of whether you’re using an Android or an iPhone. For more tech tips and news, stay tuned to Kushal Bharat Tech News.