Assistive Touch for Android

What Assistive Touch for Android is for

Assistive Touch for Android puts a floating panel over the screen that stands in for the phone's physical keys. The developer presents it as a way to protect the home and volume buttons, and as a fit for large-screen phones, where the hardware keys can be hard to reach. The developer describes it as free.

Most of what it does happens from that panel, so the same small menu covers navigation, sound, connections and app launching.

Virtual home, back and volume buttons

The virtual home button locks the screen or opens recent apps. The virtual volume button raises or lowers volume and changes the sound mode. A virtual back button sits alongside them, so the panel can cover the usual navigation keys without anyone pressing the hardware ones.

Quick toggles for connections and sound

The panel includes switches for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS location, airplane mode, screen rotation and the flashlight. Ring mode can be set to normal, vibrate or silent from the same menu, and volume can be adjusted there too. These cover the settings people change most often without opening the full settings screens.

Screenshots, power menu and notifications

A screenshot can be captured from the panel, and so can the power menu. The listing gives Android 5.0 and up for both of these. The notification shade can also be opened from the panel.

Launching apps, games and settings from the panel

Favorite apps and games can be opened with one touch from the panel, and the full set of device settings is one tap away. The developer positions this for large-screen phones, where a menu that stays on screen can replace repeated reaches to the edges of the device.