Since iOS 10, a real magnifying glass called “Loupe”has been included in the iPhone. However, it remained relatively obscure until iOS 14 when it received significant updates such as a new interface, hidden controls, a customizable toolbar, improved filter management, multiple image capture, and people detection. But one of the best things about the update is that it’s easier to open.
The Accessibility feature is useful for visually impaired people who need to magnify everyday objects to see them better. Even if you don’t have vision problems, a magnifying glass is useful for observing objects from afar. For example, viewing a company’s hours of operation from a parking lot without even getting out of your car, or looking at the fine print on a tiny paper document or menu.
Previously, you could only open the Magnifier tool using an accessibility shortcut, where accessing it was as simple as triple-clicking the Home button or Side button, or an additional Control Center toggle. These ways still exist and are certainly handy, but since iOS 14 we’ve found at least seven more ways to open Magnifier, many of which may be more convenient.
Turn on magnifier before starting
If you are using iOS 15, you can skip the first option below because the magnifier is unlocked by default and you can use all seven methods to access the tool. You still won’t be able to find the magnifier setting.
In iOS 14, before using most of the options below, you must first enable the Magnifier feature. To do this, go to Settings -> Accessibility -> Magnifier and turn on the toggle.
I say most because half of the options below don’t require Magnifier to be activated first. The switcher is designed primarily to make it work with accessibility shortcut (option 1), app library (option 3), home screen (option 4) and search (option 5) and the app icon should be displayed on these last three, to get Siri support (option 7). Control Center (Option 2), Back Press (Option 6), Shortcuts (Option 8), and Voice Control (Option 9) do not require the switch to be turned on first.
- More Info: Activate Your iPhone’s Hidden Magnifier for Extreme Zooming
Enable magnifier in accessibility settings on iOS 14.
Triple-click the Home button or Side button.
The traditional way to open Magnifier is to triple-click the Home button or Side button on the iPhone. If you don’t have any other accessibility features enabled, triple-clicking Home or Side should automatically open Magnifier if it’s enabled as an accessibility shortcut.
Triple-click the side button on iPhone in iOS 14 to open Magnifier.
If it’s not, go to Settings -> Accessibility -> Accessibility Shortcut and select Magnifier. Note that Magnifier must first be enabled in iOS 14 as shown above for this option to work. However, in iOS 15, you should see the Accessibility Shortcut option right away.
Enable Magnifier accessibility shortcut on iOS 15.
Use the Control Center toggle
Another way to quickly access Magnifier has been around since iOS 11 – an additional control in the Control Center. This method does not require Magnifier to be enabled beforehand.
To add a control, go to Settings -> Control Center. Then scroll down and click the green plus (+) button next to the magnifying glass to move it to the list of enabled controls. If you want to move the Loupe control in the Control Center, click and drag it to a new location.
Enabling the Magnifier Control in Control Center in iOS 15.
Now swipe down from the top right corner of your iPhone (on models with Face ID) or swipe up from the bottom of the screen (on models with Touch ID) to open the Control Center. Then tap the magnifying glass control (magnifying glass icon).
Access Magnifier from Control Center in iOS 14.
Use the hidden app icon from the app library.
If you swipe left to the far right of the home screen, you will open the App Library. Here you can view the magnifier or find it and then just open it. In iOS 15, you should see this without doing anything first, but in iOS 14, you need to first turn on Magnifier in Accessibility settings.
Search for the Magnifier app icon in the App Library on iOS 15.
Use the hidden app icon on the home screen.
If you’re using iOS 14, a hidden magnifier app icon will appear on the home screen after enabling the feature in settings, so make sure the accessibility tool is enabled. (It’s already included in iOS 15.) To open Magnifier, just tap its app icon.
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Accessing Magnifier from the Home screen in iOS 14.
If you don’t see the Magnifier app icon on your home screen, you can find it in your app library instead. You can also open Magnifier from the App Library if you think that’s a quick method. If you need faster access to it, you can add it to your home screen. Swipe left on the home screen until you reach the app library, find Magnifier in the library, then tap and drag it to the home screen.
- More info: Can’t find an app on your iPhone home screen? His icon is probably hiding from you.
Drag magnifier from App Library to Home screen in iOS 15.
Open from search
If you like opening apps from Spotlight search, drag down the search tool from the home screen or open it from the left side of the lock screen and search for Magnifier. On iOS 15, it should appear immediately. In iOS 14, it will only show up if you first enabled the tool in accessibility settings.
Finding the Magnifier app icon in search on iOS 15.
Press on the back of your iPhone
Back Tap, which allows you to perform multiple actions by tapping on the back of your iPhone, can be used to open and use Magnifier. It does not require the Magnifier to be turned on beforehand.
To use Back Tap, go to Settings -> Accessibility -> Touch -> Back Tap. Then select one of the tap options (for two or three taps) and select Magnifier, which will appear under Accessibility.
Enable magnifying glass as a double tap gesture on iOS 15.
Every time you double or triple-tap the Apple logo on the back of your iPhone, the shortcut launches and launches the screen magnifier. If this feature is disabled in accessibility settings, it will prevent Back Tap from working with Magnifier until you enable it again.
Opening the Magnifier with a double-tap gesture in iOS 14.
Ask Siri
In iOS 15, you can use Siri to launch the accessibility feature immediately. However, in iOS 14, you need to enable it first because Siri only recognizes a tool as an app if it’s available on the home screen or in the app library, as weird as that sounds. For the same reason, you won’t be able to get Siri to work with Magnifier in iOS 13 and earlier.
All you have to say is “Open Magnifier”and Siri will open the Magnifier; Again, if the magnifying glass feature is not enabled in iOS 14 and earlier, Siri will mention that it cannot open it. If it’s enabled and you’re on iOS 14 or later, but Siri still won’t open Magnifier (this could be a bug), you can try option 6 below as a backup.
Ask Siri to open Magnifier in iOS 14.
Run Shortcut
You can create a shortcut that opens the Magnifier tool using many of the options above, but it also gives you more ways to open the app. Like Control Center and Back Tap, this option doesn’t require Magnifier to be enabled in iOS 14 settings first.
To create a shortcut, open Shortcuts, tap My Shortcuts if you haven’t already, then tap the plus (+) button to start a draft. Click Add Action or the search bar at the bottom, then find and tap the Open Magnifier action. Prior to iOS 15, you had to select the Open App action instead, press Select in the Script box, then find and select Loupe. Shortcuts have been updated in iOS 14 since iOS 15, so you should see an “Open Magnifier”action.
Click Next, then name it whatever you want. If you’re having trouble with Siri, you can name it “Magnifier”so that Siri tries to open it instead of the app directly. You can, of course, call it something else. Click “Done”to save it.
If you don’t want to create the shortcut yourself, you can install it from the link below. After opening a shortcut, you will either be redirected to “Shortcuts”or you will need to click “Get Shortcut”to open the shortcuts. In the Shortcuts app, tap Add Shortcut (in iOS 15) in Preview or Add Untrusted Shortcut (in iOS 14). If this doesn’t work on iOS 14, go to Settings -> Shortcuts and make sure “Allow untrusted shortcuts”is enabled.
- iCloud Link: Open Magnifier v1.0 (using the old Open App action)
- iCloud Link: Open Magnifier v2.0 (using the newer “Open Magnifier”action)
Installing the Open Magnifier shortcut on iOS 14 (left) and iOS 15 (right).
You can then launch the shortcut in a number of different ways, some of which have been mentioned before, without magnifier enabled; you can launch it directly from shortcuts, from the home screen, with the back press, with Siri, etc. Below I launch the shortcut from a widget on the home screen.
To launch it from a widget, you need to add the Open Magnifier shortcut to your list of shortcuts, add the list to the widget, and then add the widget to your home screen or Today view. Check out our guide to recreating the Favorites widget in iOS 14 and later to see how it’s done.
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Preparing to use a shortcut in a widget on iOS 14.
Then just click on the Open Magnifier widget and the feature will launch.
Opening a magnifying glass from a widget on iOS 14.
Use voice control
I wouldn’t recommend using voice control unless you’re already using it during your workflow, but it’s definitely a viable option anyway. Magnifier also doesn’t need to be turned on first. To enable voice control:
- Go to Settings -> Accessibility -> Voice Control, then turn on the Voice Control toggle.
- Ask Siri to “Turn on voice control.”
- Set up an accessibility shortcut. Go to “Settings”-> “Accessibility”-> “Ease of Access Shortcut”, then check the “Voice control”box. Then every time you triple-click the side button or the home button, the voice control will turn on or off. If a shortcut is assigned more than just voice control, you will have to select it from the menu after triple-clicking.
With voice control enabled, all you have to say is “Open Magnifier”. You won’t run into any issues here, as you sometimes do with Siri, which is a bonus.