Here's how to add the Pixel's Quick Tap gesture to any phone

Google’s Pixel devices are loaded with quirky gestures and features, and they almost always make life a little easier. However, sometimes the maker of Android keeps some of its best twists for itself. You might remember the double-tap gesture from back in the days of Android 11, which disappeared before reaching the final version of the software. Well, it came back on later Pixel devices as Quick Tap. If you’re not a current Pixel user but you find yourself missing the functionality, not all hope is lost.

This is where Kieron Quinn’s creation, Tap, Tap, comes in. He built and launched the Quick Tap replacement on GitHub, and has kept it up to date for more than three years now. We’ll take you through the app, how it works, and where you can get it. Ready to get tap happy?

What is Tap, Tap? Where can you get it?

Tap, Tap is an open-source app that adapts the machine learning model Google built to power the Pixel’s Quick Tap gesture — which is indirectly based on the model that powered double-tap on Android 11. The model has received some updates over the years as it’s come to devices like the Pixel 7 series, so you shouldn’t have to worry about aging tech. It allows you to adjust your settings so that double-tapping the back of your phone will do things like toggle the flashlight and take a screenshot. It’s also possible to set it so that the gesture simulates the home, back, and recent buttons.

You should be able to download Tap, Tap on all ARMv8 devices running Android 7.0 Nougat and higher. Quinn’s latest release is based on Android 12, though it also has stable support up through the current Android 14 beta program. Of course, Google used the Pixel 3 XL and Pixel 4 when designing the feature, so you might want to stay close to those dimensions for the best experience. All you really need to run Tap, Tap is an accelerometer and a gyroscope built into your phone, as well as some machine learning support.

Where can you get it?

Unfortunately, you won’t find this handy app on the Play Store. Instead, you can download Tap, Tap from the XDA forums or GitHub. Once you do, you’ll need to sideload the app onto your Android device. If you’re not sure how to do that, we’ve got you covered. Also, keep in mind that Tap, Tap has picked up quite a few updates over its three-year existence. If you tried it back in the early days, you might come back and find something new.

What features are there?

Thanks to overwhelmingly positive feedback, Quinn got right to work adding features to Tap, Tap — and hasn’t stopped. Two of the most significant changes are the Tasker integration and music support. The music support is pretty self-explanatory, but the Tasker support now means that you can control specific event reminders with modified Quick Tap. In fact, Tap, Tap goes further than the Pixel’s native gesture in many cases.

As far as new actions go, you can now add a wake device tap, and the camera launch UI has been fixed. Luckily for you, the app will walk through all of these settings once you install it, which should keep things simple. You can also translate Tap, Tap into Simplified Chinese, Russian, Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, and Ukrainian.

If you don’t want Quick Tap to work all the time, you can add gates to block certain situations. These limits can make life easier if you’re charging your phone or already using the camera. Once you decide to set up a few actions, your options include the camera, the home button, the ability to lock your screen, and more.

We can’t stress enough that Tap, Tap still isn’t a perfect app. It’s based on Android 12, though it does receive frequent updates — the most recent coming in June 2023. You’ll also want to keep in mind that the location you need to tap on may vary by device. Feel free to test it out, but check for updates often. Quinn is pretty active when it comes to releasing patches, so any issues should be fixed quickly.

Oh, and if you’re already a Google Pixel user, you can ignore most of what Tap, Tap adds. It does have a few extra features to offer, but it might be tricky to balance Tap, Tap and Quick Tap on the same device.