Apple’s iPhones are designed with
only one button on the front of the
devices. Before using your first
iPhone, you would think it is almost
impossible to break the home
button. This is not true. It is enough
to accidentally drop your
smartphone to the ground with the
face down to break that special
button which is responsible for
many important functions,
including unlocking your iPhone
(especially when you Touch ID is
enabled).

So let’s say you broke your home
button on your device. Now you are
wondering whether your iPhone can
still be used or if you should bring
the smartphone to a service center
for somebody to repair it.

Fortunately, Apple is aware of such
issues with the company’s devices
and have prepared a useful
function in iOS which you can use
to replace the home button of your
iPhone.

Warranty

Before you consider using this
function, you should check whether
you (still) have a warranty on your
smartphone. If you do, Apple or the
retailer you purchased the device
from can replace the home button
for free. You can easily check
whether you are eligible for the
replacement by visiting Apple’s
website.

Apple will ask you to provide the
serial number for your hardware. By
this, the company means the IMEI
number – every smartphone has a
unique one – which you can find in
multiple places. If you
previously
synced your iPhone with iTunes,
you can find the IMEI number
there. If haven’t synced it or you do
not want to use iTunes, you can
navigate to Settings/General and
Information. However, the easiest
way to find your device’s unique
code is to check the back of your
device. Under the “iPhone” label
you will see your IMEI number.

AssistiveTouch

If you can’t (or do not want) to
replace the home button of your
device physically, you can replace it
virtually in iOS. There is a little-
known accessibility feature called
AssistiveTouch which you can use
to create a virtual home button on
your screen.

1. Navigate to Settings and then
General. When there, tap
Accessibility. Since there are many
functions under this menu, you
should search for the Interaction
, category where you will find
AssisstiveTouch.

2. After clicking on the button, tap
the toggle switch to turn
AssisstiveTouch on.

3. If you did everything right, you
should see a rounded rectangle
with a circle in the middle appear on
your screen.

However, how can you
use this function?
To start using AssistiveTouch, you
should tap on the rounded
rectangle. After clicking on it, your
iPhone will show you a menu where
you can access various features,
such as the home button, Control
Center or Siri.

After a while, when you get familiar
with the options in this menu, you
might wonder how you can turn off
your device with AssistiveTouch?

First, you should tap the
AssistiveTouch icon to launch the
on-screen controls. When there,
tap Device. Tap and hold the lock
screen until the slide to power off
your iPhone displays. After that,
you should slide to power off your
device.

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