If you have an iPhone 8 or later and the latest version of iOS, you can use a feature called Back Tap, which can switch between dark mode and light mode on your device with just two or three taps. It’s very simple, let’s take a look:
Create a dark/light toggle shortcut
To toggle between dark and light mode, we’ll need to use an Apple Shortcut, which is an automated way to perform a task on your iPhone. When activated, the shortcut will automatically switch between “light appearance” or “dark appearance,” depending on which mode is currently set. This is equivalent to tapping the “Dark Mode” button in Control Center or changing your phone’s appearance in the Settings app.
To get started, launch the Shortcuts app. If you have trouble finding it, swipe downward from the center of the screen and type “Shortcuts,” then tap the Shortcuts app icon.
When “Shortcuts” opens, tap the “My Shortcuts” tab at the bottom of the screen and select “All Shortcuts” in the list above.
On the “All Shortcuts” page, tap plus (“+”) in the upper-right corner. This will add a new shortcut.
On the New Shortcut page, tap the shortcut’s name at the top of the screen and type “Toggle Appearance.” If you want, you can also tap the icon beside it and customize the color and glyph.
Next, tap the “Add Action” button.
In the Actions panel that appears, enter Appearance in the search bar, and then select Set Appearance in the list of actions.
Next, click on “Turn” in the “Open Appearance” action and select “Toggle” in the pop-up menu. This will make the dark and light modes alternate each time you trigger the shortcut.
That’s all you have to do! Press the “X” in the upper right corner and your shortcut will be saved. You can test it in “Shortcuts” by clicking the “Toggle Appearance” shortcut button as many times as you like. If you set it up properly, the look of your iPhone will change from light to dark, or from dark to light.
Next, Configure Back Tap in Settings
Now that you’ve made a shortcut to “Switch Appearances”, you can set “Tap” to trigger a few times. To do this, first, open the Settings application.
In Settings, select Accessibility > Touch.
In Touch settings, select Back tap.
In “Back Tap”, you can choose to launch the “Toggle Appearance” shortcut by tapping two or three times on the back of your iPhone. Select the option you want.
In the menu of options that appears, swipe down to the Shortcuts section. Select Toggle Appearance. Once selected, there will be a check mark next to it.
After that, exit the settings. Whenever you want, tap two or three times on the back of your iPhone (depending on how to set it up). If you are in light mode, dark mode will be activated and vice versa.
