by Deborah Armstrong
iPhone VoiceOver users depend on the "magic tap," a two-finger double-tap that performs a myriad of functions. The term "magic tap" is not official Apple lingo, and was invented by a user and went viral.
But sometimes the magic seems to go haywire. You want to dictate a message, but when you two-finger double-tap, your phone begins playing music. Or maybe you are trying to answer or end a call, but despite repeatedly invoking the magic tap, nothing happens.
The solution is easy once you understand why this occurs. The problem is context.
VoiceOver always knows what you are focused on. Whether it's a piece of text, or what Apple calls an infographic, VoiceOver's cursor, which is also visible to sighted users, is pointing to something. The magic tap acts differently depending on what's being pointed at.
For example, if you are pointing inside an edit field, VoiceOver knows a magic tap means you want to dictate. If you are dictating, it knows you want to stop dictating.
If you are pointing outside of an edit field, it knows you want to play the last thing you played: a video, music, podcast or audio book. If something is playing, VoiceOver knows you want to pause playback.
If the phone is ringing, a magic tap means you want to answer the call. If you are on the phone, a magic tap means you want to end the call.
This context gets complicated if you are in the middle of dictating when the phone rings, or if you have paused playback and now need to dictate. VoiceOver gets confused about the context and does the wrong thing.
There is also a problem if the phone rings and you need to dig it out of your pocket. Because the phone is in sleep mode, VoiceOver is not pointing to anything, so it has no context about what it's supposed to do with your magic tap. The secret is to touch the screen first, so VoiceOver is pointing to something (it doesn't matter what), then invoke the magic tap to answer the call.
Whenever your magic tap goes awry, try to think about context. Move into an edit field if your plan is to dictate, and away from an edit field if you need to pause playback. Touch the screen when your phone rings, or when you need to end a call before two-finger double-tapping.
You find when you think about where VoiceOver is pointing, your magic tap will more often give you what you expected.