Earlier this year, we learned that Google was working on a feature called Columbus. This would allow users to touch the back of their phone to activate various functions. However, it was not the firm that launched this function first, but Apple, anticipating its main competition, added this possibility to the novelties of iOS 14. Without “getting wet” about who copied whom, it is now Xiaomi who joins the party with MIUI 12.
It has been the guys from XDA Developers who, once again, have found references to a new function that makes use of gestures on the back of the phone to perform different actions. The firm has called this tool Back Tap and there is a trace of it in the latest beta versions of Xiaomi MIUI 12, as seen in these screenshots of the function in the MIUI configuration menu.
How does Back Tap work in MIUI 12?
Although these screenshots have been found with information from the new tool, there is still no way to use or make it work on the tested phones. However, the leaked images from MIUI 12 show us what to expect from the feature.
On the one hand, we can make use of the double touch and triple touch gestures. Logically we must eliminate a single touch from the equation because if not, each time we touch the mobile, the function associated with the gesture will be enabled. We can choose what to do when executing these gestures from a list of actions:
- Turn off the screen
- Turn the flashlight on or off
- Close apps
- Turn on the mobile’s split-screen
- Take screenshots
- Start the camera
- Activate notification tones.
As you can see, they are gestures similar to Motorola’s Moto Actions, although this time instead of executing them on the screen, they are performed on the back shell with one or two strokes.
Although it has made an appearance in the latest MIUI 12 betas, for now, there is no official statement from the brand or specific date on which this update would reach compatible Xiaomi phones. In addition, it remains to be seen if, as with the new “Super Wallpapers” of the brand, this function is available for all the mobile phones of the brand or only a select few will be able to execute these gestures on the back of their phone.