How to add Google’s Quick Tap gesture to any Android phone

Google bundles several lesser-known features with its Pixel software that can significantly improve your everyday experience. One such feature is Quick Tap, which lets you double-tap the back of your phone to perform an action. I mostly use Quick Tap on my phone to take screenshots or open the Simplenote app for quick note-taking, and it’s one feature I miss the most every time I switch to a non-Pixel phone.

Thankfully, there’s an app that offers similar functionality on non-Pixel phones. It’s called Tap, Tap, and it’s one of the first few apps I install on all my Android phones, including Pixels — yes, it’s that good. Sure, Samsung phones have the RegiStar Good Lock module, which unlocks a similar back-tap functionality. However, Tap, Tap one-ups it by bundling a few additional features.

If you find Quick Tap on your Pixel phone limiting or miss it on your non-Pixel phones, you should give Tap, Tap a shot.

Tap, Tap is essentially a port of Google’s Quick Tap feature, with the same objective: turning your phone’s back into a virtual button for quickly performing frequent actions. However, it does a few things differently, which makes it better than Quick Tap.

For starters, Tap, Tap supports two gestures: double-tap and triple-tap. Then, there’s the ability to perform multiple actions with a single gesture: all you need to do is specify conditions for each action, and the app triggers the assigned action accordingly. This alone makes Tap, Tap so much more useful than Quick Tap, allowing you to perform more than two actions with just two gestures.

Tap, Tap offers over 50 actions across multiple categories, such as toggling the flashlight, taking a screenshot, launching the default assistant, opening the Camera app, and rejecting a call. But that’s not all. You can unlock more actions, such as system-level changes or access to an app’s menus, using the Shizuku app or by rooting your phone.

Another useful feature you get with Tap, Tap is gates, which let you specify situations when you don’t want either gesture to trigger and run the assigned actions. If you’re experiencing too many false triggers while using your phone, setting up gates for those conditions can help fix that. For instance, I’ve set up a keyboard gate on my phone that blocks gestures when the keyboard is in use.

Among other things, the Tap, Tap app lets you change the tap sensitivity. If you’re like me and frequently switch cases, this can be really useful, as you can set the optimal sensitivity for each case to avoid accidental triggers or ensure your taps don’t go unregistered. Furthermore, you can set the device size to improve tap detection and reduce ghost taps. This calibrates the app to a set threshold for that device size, allowing it to better distinguish deliberate finger taps from accidental triggers. You can find these and other Tap, Tap settings on the Settings tab.

As for how I use Tap, Tap, I usually have both gestures set up on my phone. I’ve configured the double-tap gesture to perform three actions: toggle the flashlight (when the lock screen is showing), skip tracks (when music is playing), and take a screenshot (when other requirements aren’t met). I find the second action particularly useful when I want to skip a track during runs.

On the other hand, I’ve set up the triple-tap gesture to perform two actions: play the previous track (when music is playing) and launch Google Maps with turn-by-turn directions to home from my current location (when the other condition isn’t met). The former complements the skip-track action I’ve got configured for the double-tap gesture.

To get started, head to Tap, Tap’s GitHub and download the latest APK file from the Releases page. When prompted to grant the app permission to install the APK, tap Settings and toggle on the Allow from this source option.

​Once Tap, Tap is installed, hit Get started. Tap Next a few times and allow the app access to the requested permissions. Then, double-tap the back of your phone to activate the gesture.

You should now be on Tap, Tap’s main screen. Here, tap the Disable Battery Optimization card and follow the on-screen instructions to turn off battery optimization. This is to prevent the feature from killing the app in the background.

Next, you need to grant Tap, Tap the permission to draw over other apps. Except for a difference in some menu names, the process looks largely the same on most Android phones.

Go to Settings > Apps and select Tap, Tap. Tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner, select Allow restricted settings, and authenticate yourself using biometrics or PIN. Scroll down to the Advanced section, select Display over other apps, and flip the Allow display over other apps toggle on. The setting is available as Appear on top on Samsung phones.

​You also need to grant Tap, Tap accessibility permissions. Head to Settings > Accessibility, select Tap, Tap, and toggle the Use Tap, Tap button on. Hit Allow. Similarly, go to the previous page, select Tap, Tap Secondary Service, and enable it.

​With permissions granted, you can now configure Tap, Tap with your preferred actions. Go back to the app and make sure the Enable Tap, Tap toggle is turned on. Choose Double Tap Actions. You may see an action already added here. If you want to remove it, long-tap the action, then tap Remove.

Now, to add a new action, tap the Add Action button. Since it’s your first time using the app, go through different action categories to explore the kind of actions available. Once you’ve found an action, tap it, and it’ll be assigned to the gesture. (Tap, Tap may sometimes request certain permissions for some of the actions. Follow the on-screen instructions to allow access to those permissions.)

You’ve now successfully configured the double-tap gesture. If you want to perform multiple actions with this gesture, repeat the same steps to add more actions.

After adding actions, the next step is to specify trigger requirements. Tap the Add requirement button on an action, tap Add Requirement again, then select a category and pick a requirement on the following screen. You may want to explore all the categories first. If you skip specifying a requirement for an action, that action becomes the gesture’s default, meaning it runs when none of the other requirements are met.

Keep in mind that the order of actions matters here. As such, be sure to always put the action without any requirements last on the list. You can move actions up or down by grabbing them with the hamburger button to their right.

With your actions properly configured, test the gesture by double-tapping the back of your phone to make sure it works exactly as you’ve configured it. If Tap, Tap isn’t triggering an action correctly, go back to the app, then disable and re-enable it.

Repeat the same steps to configure the triple-tap gesture as well. In Tap, Tap, select Triple Tap Actions and configure it with actions and requirements. Make sure Enable Triple Tap is toggled on.

I’m a huge fan of the Action Button on iPhones; I use it every day to perform a range of actions, from scanning QR codes and searching the screen’s content to accessing my favorite payment apps and jumping into different settings, and I believe having something similar on Android phones would be a game-changer. Sure, Nothing introduced Essential Key with the Nothing Phone 3a, but it still seems like a far-fetched dream.

Until that happens, I’d like to see phone manufacturers offering Quick Tap as a built-in feature on their OS — of course, implemented similarly to Tap, Tap. I also want Google to take notes from Tap, Tap, and bring those missing features to Quick Tap on its Pixel phones. Not only does a feature like this simplify everyday tasks, but it also opens a world of opportunities, allowing you to get the most out of your phone.

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