Can You Use an iPhone with a Mouse?

Surely you have asked yourself the question many times , can you use the iPhone with a mouse? In the end, the world of smartphones has made you carry a computer in your pocket every day, a laptop, with an almost professional camera, with the possibility of making calls and touch. So why couldn’t we use this “laptop” with a mouse?

Is it possible to use the iPhone with a mouse?

 Use an iPhone with a Mouse

If you have entered this post looking for the answer to the question of being able to use the iPhone, whatever it is, with a mouse the answer is no. Apple, at least for now, has not given the possibility of using its flagship product with this focused accessory, first to the Mac, and now also to the iPad. Possibly the latter are the “culprits” that the iPhone does not have that functionality within its operating system, and surely the fact that now if we can use a keyboard to interact with our iPad, is the reason why Apple has been forced to separate the operating system of the iPhone and iPad, dedicating iOS to the former and iPadOS to the latter.

However, that you cannot use a mouse to use your iPhone does not mean that there is no possibility of handling your device in a different way, which, we could say in a certain way, that mimics the use of a mouse. We are talking about AssistiveTouch and VoiceOver.

AssistiveTouch can be an alternative

assistiveTouch

Relatively recently, it was very common to see a small white dot in the number of iPhone screens, well, this white dot is AssistiveTouch, which after all is nothing more than a different way of using our device in a way that it offers us to do certain actions more quickly. We say that it was common because iPhones that have a home button could suffer the misfortune that this button was damaged and, therefore, there was almost no way to use certain actions that depended on this button, however, having active AssistiveTouch did not depend on the physical button since this functionality allows you to “replace” that button in a certain way.

To activate AssistiveTouch you can do it in three different ways:

  • Go to Settings> Accessibility> Touch, then turn on AssistiveTouch.
  • Say “Hey Siri activate AssistiveTouch”
  • Go to Settings> Accessibility> Quick function and turn on AssistiveTouch

When activated, a virtual button will appear on your screen that you can drag to any edge of the screen, we recommend that it be a place where you have access when you use your iPhone with one hand. The moment you press this button, the AssistiveTouch menu will open, allowing you to access menus and controls that require on-screen gestures such as the Control Center, Notification Center, Spotlight, Home, application selector or even read on screen In addition, it also gives you access to certain functions such as activating the accessibility shortcut, locking the screen, regulating the volume, talking to Siri, restarting the device, taking screenshots or pretending to shake your iPhone. Of course, the AssistiveTouch menu is fully customizable, to do this, perform the following steps:

  • Go to Settings> Accessibility> Touch and activate AssistiveTouch
  • Select Customize floating menu, then tap an icon to reassign a different function to its position.
  • Use the + and – buttons to change the number of buttons that appear on the menu.

Use VoiceOver to control your iPhone

iPhone12Pro

VoiceOver is a gesture-based screen reader, that is, you will be able to use your iPhone even if you cannot see the screen since this functionality describes aloud what is on the screen of your iPhone at that moment, being able to adjust the speed of speech and tone.

The moment you touch the screen or drag your finger over it, VoiceOver calls out the name of the item your finger is on, including text and icons. In order to interact with the screen you will have to use the VoiceOver gestures, you can find them described here .

To activate or deactivate VoiceOver you have to follow these steps:

  • Say “Hey Siri, turn VoiceOver on” or “Hey Siri, turn VoiceOver off.”
  • Press the side button three times if you have an iPhone with FaceID.
  • Press the home button three times if you have an iPhone with a home button.
  • Use the control center.
  • Go to Settings> Accessibility> VoiceOver and turn the setting on or off.