Many phones have a convenient “back tap” feature that lets you activate shortcuts without touching the screen. It’s more useful on certain phone brands than others — iPhones and OnePlus phones have a dedicated physical button for shortcut mapping. Other phones, like Motorola devices, either have no spare button at all or an AI key that can’t be easily mapped to other functions. That’s why Motorola’s back tap tool, branded as Quick Launch, really comes in handy on phones like the Razr or Razr Fold.
The default action for Quick Launch is to activate Moto AI, but luckily, the feature can be changed to do almost anything. You can launch any app on your phone after setting up Quick Launch, or use utilities to take screenshots, record your screen, or start recording a voice memo. It’s the most versatile feature on your Motorola phone you probably aren’t using, but you can start today with these steps.
Modern smartphones are loaded with sensors, and that sensor suite includes an accelerometer. This sensor tracks device movement and orientation, while software algorithms look for vibration patterns. If the software notices two vibrations consistent with back taps in a row, it completes a shortcut. This explains how the Quick Launch shortcut feature works with surprising accuracy, even if there isn’t a physical button on the back of your phone.
Quick Launch activates shortcuts when you double-tap the top third of the back of your phone. This is usually somewhere around the bottom of the camera bump. On my Razr Fold, that’s just above the Motorola logo. With the feature enabled, this quick action launches trigger shortcuts without having to touch the screen or the side button. It’s easier to access, particularly on bigger phones where maneuverability is poor.
How to enable Quick Launch on your Motorola phone
Quick Launch is easy to set up on a Motorola phone — you may have even encountered it by accident. When you double-tap the back of your handset with enough force, a pop-up appears telling users they’ve found Quick Launch, even if the feature hasn’t been set up yet. You can try it now to walk through the on-screen prompts and start using Quick Launch.
Or, you can set up or modify the feature at any time in the Settings app. Here’s how to do it:
1. Open the Settings app on your Motorola phone.
2. Scroll down to the Gestures tab and tap it.
3. Press Quick Launch to open the page.
4. Flip the toggle beside Use Quick Launch.
5. Tap Try it out to demo the force it takes to activate Quick Launch with a back tap at each strength setting.
6. Press Done when finished.
By default, the Quick Launch feature is mapped to activate Moto AI. You probably want to map it to something else that fits into your workflow, so let’s go over how to change it.
Choosing the right action for Quick Launch
Before picking a Quick Launch action, you should choose a strength. Stay on the Quick Launch settings page, and tap the Tap strength tab. Then, choose between a Gentle tap, Moderate tap, or Hard tap strength setting. I usually leave the default of Gentle tap set, but if you’re experiencing accidental activations, you can change to a higher strength setting to avoid those unnecessary interruptions.
Once you’ve picked a strength setting, go back to the Quick Launch settings page and look at the options under Choose what to launch. You can choose to launch Recorder, Open Smart Connect, Moto AI, Play/Pause Music, Take Screenshot, Screen Recorder, Back to Home, Switch to last app, or Open App.
I’ve experimented with all the options, but the one that’s stuck with me is Take Screenshot. I take a lot of them, and fumbling with the volume rocker and power button is a hassle. Somehow, after years as a tech reviewer, I still can’t put the screenshot button shortcut to memory. I usually end up accidentally locking my device or bringing up the power menu, but that’s not an issue with Quick Launch set to Take Screenshot.
Instead, I can simply tap the back of my Motorola phone whenever I need to take a screenshot. After, I still have access to the screenshot editor and share card. It’s the same workflow, with one simpler step. If you often multitask, you might want to use the app switcher shortcut, for example. It all depends on your workflow.
One thing’s for sure — if you have a Motorola phone with an AI key, you shouldn’t use Quick Launch for Moto AI. If you leave Quick Launch as the default setting, you’ll have two buttons mapped to the same action.
When to use Quick Launch on your Motorola phone
Shortcuts are typically an easier way to launch apps and features on a smartphone than using a screen-based gesture or opening the Quick settings panel. Motorola phones have an excellent Quick Launch feature that works surprisingly well at performing actions when triggered and avoiding accidental detections. If there’s an action you need to speed up — in my case, taking a screenshot — Quick Launch can save you time and effort.
If you have a premium Motorola phone with an AI key, like the Razr Fold I tested, it’s absolutely worth changing the default Quick Launch feature to something other than Moto AI. It’s bad enough that Motorola doesn’t let us change the action of the AI key. At least the Quick Launch trigger can be set to (almost) anything you need!
The top Motorola phone
The Razr Fold represents the best Motorola has to offer, and it’s an excellent foldable. Cheaper than the Galaxy Z Fold 7 yet surprisingly capable, the Motorola Razr Fold is a software champ. It’s packed with features like Quick Launch, which lets you immediately launch apps and actions by tapping the back of your phone.