How To Use Magnifier On iPhone Home Screen (iOS 14 Pro Tips)
Magnifier app on Home Screen in iOS 14
The iPhone Magnifier tool has been revamped in iOS 14! It can now be used as a standalone app on iPhone and iPad. This means that you can enable the Magnifier app in the App Library and add its icon to the Home Screen for quick access!
Magnifier is an iOS Accessiblity feature that allows iPhone and iPad users to quickly enlarge object from their surroundings. This tool uses your device’s main Camera to magnify things that you bring into the range of the viewfinder.
How To Enable Magnifier On iPhone
- 1. Open Settings in iOS or iPadOS.
- 2. Scroll for Accessibility.
- 3. Tap on Magnifier, third in the Vision list.
- 4. Use the toggle to enable the Magnifier feature.
Fact: This makes the app available in App Library and you can drag the Magnifier icon to the Home Screen too.
How To Add Magnifier On Home Screen
There are two ways to get the stock Magnifier app on your device’s Home Screen:
1. Manually
If you’re using the iOS 14 Home Screen default settings the Magnifier becomes available only in the App Library. To add it to the Home Screen you have to:
- Swipe to the end of the Home Screen pagination to bring up the App Library.
- Tap on the App Library search box.
- Type ‘Magnifier’ to locate the app.
- Long-press the Magnifier icon.
- Tap Add to Home Screen.
Tip: You can drag & drop the Magnifier icon to the desired home screen page.
2. Automatically
The Magnifier icon will be automatically added to a free slot on the Home Screen, if the Add to Home Screen option is enabled in Settings -> Home Screen. This setting adds new apps in both the App Library and Home Screen. It will instantly add Magnifier to one of your home pages as soon as you enabled it, using the steps detailed above.
Fact: The iOS 14 default is App Library Only!
How To Use Magnifier In iOS 14
Tap on the Magnifier icon available on your Home Screen, whenever you want to enlarge something nearby.
Frame the object in the camera’s viewfinder.
Use the slider next to the magnifying glass to zoom-in and out.
Tip: You can also turn on the flashlight if you’re magnifying in low light conditions.
Trick: Use the Shutter button to snap a photo of your enlarged object and zoom-in further by using the pinch gesture. use the Share icon (top-right corner) to share the image. Tap ‘X’ to magnify something else.
Settings: Tap the Settings icon, in the bottom-left corner if you want to enable secondary controls like: Brightness, Contrast, Filters and Flashlight.
Use Magnifier Low Intensity Flashlight (Pro Tip)
Our test have confirmed that the iOS 14 Magnifier app provides a wider intensity range than the stock Flashlight app, in Control Center.
If you want to use the iPhone flashlight at an even lower intensity, open Magnifier, lon-press the Flashlight icon to bring up the LED controls and slide the Flashlight toggle close to the minimum.
Notice, how just a part of the LEDs are used and the intensity is much lower than the one you achieve for the minimum setting of the Flashlight app in Control Center.
Magnifier Measures Distances To Persons (LiDAR)
If you’re owning the iPhone 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max or an LiDAR compatible iPad (the Pro 12.9-inch 4th gen, or the Pro 11-inch 2nd gen) you’re able to use Magnifier to measure the distance to people nearby.
How To: Open Magnifier on any compatible device and use the viewfinder to display the person. The distance will be displayed on the screen.
Did you know that you can easily measure height with the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max?
Are you planning to use the iOS 14 Magnifier tool? Let us know your feedback about this Accessibility feature. Use the comments section available below.
Related: Take a look at how the iPhone’s Magnifier worked back when it was initially released in iOS 10!
