The iPhone Magnifier tool has been redesigned in iOS 14! It can now be used as a standalone app on iPhone and iPad. This means you can activate the Magnifier app in the app library and add its icon to the home screen for quick access!
Magnifying glass is an iOS accessibility feature that allows iPhone and iPad users to quickly magnify an object in their surroundings. This tool uses your device’s main camera to magnify things you bring within range of the viewfinder.
How to activate magnifier on iPhone
- 1. Open Settings on iOS or iPadOS.
- 2. Scroll down to Accessibility.
- 3. Press on Magnifying glass, third in the Vision listing.
- 4. Use the toggle to activate the Magnifying glass functionality.
Made: This makes the app available in the app library and you can also drag the magnifying glass icon to the home screen.
How to add a magnifying glass to the home screen
There are two ways to get the stock Magnifier app on the home screen of your device:
1. Manually
If you are using the default iOS 14 home screen settings, the magnifying glass is only available in the app library. To add it to the home screen, you must:
- Drag to the end of the home screen pagination to view Application library.
- Tap the app library Search bar.
- Type ‘Magnifying glass’ to locate the application.
- Long press magnifying glass icon.
- Tap Add to Home Screen.
Point: You can drag and drop the magnifying glass icon to the desired home screen page.
2. Automatically
The magnifying glass icon will automatically be added to a free location on the home screen, if the Add to Home Screen the option is enabled in Settings -> Home screen. This setting adds new apps to both the app library and the home screen. It will instantly add a magnifying glass to any of your homepages as soon as you activate it, following the steps detailed above.
Made: The default for iOS 14 is Application library only!
How to use magnifier in iOS 14
Tap the magnifying glass icon available on your home screen, whenever you want to magnify something nearby.
Frame the object in the camera viewfinder.
Use the slider next to the magnifying glass to zoom in and out.
Point: You can also turn on the flashlight if you zoom in in low light conditions.
Tower: Use the shutter button to take a photo of your magnified object and zoom in further using the pinch gesture. use the Share icon (upper right corner) to share the image. Press “X” to enlarge something else.
Settings: Tap the Settings icon, in the lower left corner if you want to enable secondary controls such as: Brightness, contrast, filters and Flash light.
Use a Magnifier Low Intensity Flashlight (Pro Tip)
Our testing confirmed that the iOS 14 Magnifier app offers a wider intensity range than the stock Flashlight app, in the Control Center.
If you want to use the iPhone flashlight at an even lower intensity, open Magnifying glass, lon-press the Flash light icon to display the LED controls and slide the flashlight button near the minimum.
Note that only part of the LEDs are used and the intensity is much lower than you get for the minimum setting of the Flashlight app in Control Center.
Magnifier measures distances to people (LiDAR)
If you have the iPhone 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max, or a LiDAR-enabled iPad (12.9-inch Pro 4th gen or 11-inch Pro 2nd gen), you can use the magnifying glass to measure distance to people nearby. .
How? ‘Or’ What: Open Magnifier on any compatible device and use the viewfinder to view 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 what you think about it Accessibility functionality. Use the comments section available below.
Related: Take a look at how the iPhone Magnifier worked when it was first released in iOS 10!