With the new 6.1-inch iPhone 16E replacing the 4.7-inch iPhone SE, Apple has put the final nail in the coffin for small phones. Modern iPhones can seem large and unwieldy when you need to tap something at the top of the screen. Luckily, there’s a helpful iOS feature called Reachability.
With Reachability, you can bring down the whole top half of your screen. It’s a handy (no pun intended) way to access features like the Control Center without having to stretch out your thumb or adjust your grip on your phone. It’s especially useful if you’re using your phone with one hand.
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Toggle on Reachability
To use Reachability, swipe down on the bottom edge of your screen. The upper half of your screen will slide down, letting you more easily interact with Dynamic Island or access your Notification Center. Your phone will automatically return to the full screen after a few seconds, or you can tap the top half to make it slide back up.
If you haven’t enabled Reachability on your iPhone, here’s how you can turn on the iOS feature. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch. Then toggle on Reachability.
Can’t reach the top of your screen? Just pull it down with Reachability.
Phones just won’t stop getting bigger
The fact that there’s a need for the Reachability feature probably says something about phone screens becoming too large for certain hands. The iPhone 16 Pro increased its screen to 6.3 inches (from 6.1 inches on the 15 Pro), and the 16 Pro Max’s screen is nearly 7 inches diagonally.
It’s hard to believe that Steve Jobs once touted the original iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen as the perfect size, allowing the thumb to reach every corner of the screen.
Reachability was first introduced with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in 2014. At that time, their respective 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screens were massive compared to previous iPhones. The iPhone 13 Mini was the last flagship iPhone with a screen smaller than 6 inches, but it was discontinued after poor sales.
Phones seem to no longer be made with one-handed use as a priority, which makes sense — they’ve evolved from accessories to become the primary computers in many people’s lives. Users want longer battery life, better cameras and bigger screens to view their apps, videos and FaceTime calls. Bigger phones make everything easier to see, even if they don’t fit as comfortably in pockets.
We’re not likely to see a small flagship iPhone return anytime soon. But at least we have Reachability to make our large screens a little easier to use.