Just Got an iPhone 17e? Here's What Changed When the Home Button Disappeared

If you just upgraded to an iPhone 17e from an older iPhone, something probably already feels off. You reach for the Home button and it isn't there. You try to take a screenshot the way you always have and something goes wrong — maybe the screen brightens, maybe nothing happens, maybe you accidentally call someone.

Your hands are not confused. Your muscle memory is right. The phone changed. You learned real skills on your old iPhone, and those skills work exactly the way they should — on a phone that no longer exists in your pocket.

The iPhone 17e is genuinely a good phone, and the new gestures are not hard to learn. But nobody should have to figure them out alone. This guide covers the six things that feel most "lost" when the Home button disappears — and gives you a clear, simple fix for each one.

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1. Taking a Screenshot

The Home button era screenshot method — pressing Side and Volume Up at the same time — was already awkward. On the 17e there is no Home button, so it is gone entirely. The replacement options are actually better, but you have to set them up first.

Choose whichever option works better for you.

Option A: Set the Action Button to take a screenshot (recommended)

The iPhone 17e has an Action Button on the left side of the phone — a small oval button above the volume buttons. By default it controls the mute switch, but you can reassign it to do almost anything, including taking a screenshot with a single press.

How to set it up:

1. Open Settings
2. Tap Action Button
3. Swipe through the options until you reach Screenshot
4. Stop there — that's all you need to do

Now a single press of the Action Button takes a screenshot instantly. No two-button combination, no timing required.

Option B: Use AssistiveTouch (a floating on-screen button)

AssistiveTouch puts a small dot on your screen that you can tap anytime to get a menu of phone functions, including screenshots. It stays on screen all the time and never disappears — but you can drag it to a corner where it stays out of the way.

How to set it up:

1. Open Settings
2. Tap Accessibility
3. Tap Touch
4. Tap AssistiveTouch
5. Turn on AssistiveTouch

Our AssistiveTouch guide walks you through this step by step and shows you how to configure it exactly how you want.

A small gray dot appears on your screen. To take a screenshot:

1. Tap the dot
2. Tap Device
3. Tap More
4. Tap Screenshot

For faster access, you can set the dot to take a screenshot with a single tap:

1. Open Settings
2. Tap Accessibility
3. Tap Touch
4. Tap AssistiveTouch
5. Tap Single-Tap
6. Choose Screenshot

Now one tap on the dot takes a screenshot immediately.

The Action Button (Option A) is the cleaner solution — no dot on screen, just one press. AssistiveTouch is worth having too, because it solves many other button problems beyond screenshots.

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2. Going Home

The old way: Press the Home button once.

The new way: Swipe up from the very bottom edge of the screen — a short, quick flick upward. Your thumb starts at the very bottom of the glass and flicks up about an inch.

It takes about a day to build new muscle memory for this. The motion is smaller than most people expect at first. You do not need to swipe all the way up the screen — just a short flick from the bottom edge and the phone goes home.

If you swipe up too slowly or too far, you get the App Switcher instead (see section 3 below). A quick, confident flick is what works best.

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3. Switching Between Apps (App Switcher)

The old way: Double-press the Home button to see all your open apps.

The new way: Swipe up from the bottom of the screen, but pause in the middle — hold your finger there for about one second until the app cards fan out.

Once the App Switcher appears, swipe left and right through your open apps and tap the one you want to go back to.

How to close an app from here: Press and hold an app card until a red minus button appears in the corner, then tap it. Or swipe the card upward off the screen.

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4. Powering Off or Restarting

The old way: Hold the Side button until "slide to power off" appeared.

On the 17e, holding the Side button alone opens Siri instead. To power off, you need to do one of the following:

Option A: Button combination

1. Hold the Side button and either Volume button at the same time
2. Keep holding until the "slide to power off" screen appears
3. Slide the power icon to the right

Option B: Through Settings (no buttons at all)

1. Open Settings
2. Tap General
3. Scroll all the way to the bottom
4. Tap Shut Down
5. Slide to confirm

The Settings method is slower but requires no button coordination. Good to know when the button combination feels awkward.

To restart (if your phone is behaving strangely): Use the same button combination to get to the power-off screen, then tap Restart instead of sliding to power off.

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5. AssistiveTouch — The Universal Safety Net

AssistiveTouch deserves its own section because it solves almost every button-related frustration on the 17e in one place. You can also set it up step by step with our AssistiveTouch guide.

It puts a small floating dot on your screen. Tap it, and you get an on-screen menu that can do everything a physical button can do — take a screenshot, go home, open the App Switcher, adjust volume, lock the screen, restart the phone. If you can never remember which gesture does what, AssistiveTouch is always there.

How to set it up:

1. Open Settings
2. Tap Accessibility
3. Tap Touch
4. Tap AssistiveTouch
5. Turn on AssistiveTouch

The dot appears immediately. Drag it to whichever corner of the screen bothers you least — it stays wherever you put it.

What you can do from the AssistiveTouch menu:

• Take a screenshot
• Go to the Home screen
• Open the App Switcher
• Lock the screen
• Adjust volume
• Access Siri
• Restart the phone

Making the dot less visible when you're not using it:

1. Open Settings
2. Tap Accessibility
3. Tap Touch
4. Tap AssistiveTouch
5. Find Idle Opacity and drag the slider to the left

Set it very low — around 20% — and the dot nearly disappears when you're not using it, but brightens the moment you tap it.

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Both AssistiveTouch and Assistive Access are part of our free Senior Essentials guide — a step-by-step walkthrough of the most useful iPhone settings for seniors, with your phone opening each screen automatically.

Browse all free iPhone guides →

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6. Assistive Access — For When the Whole Phone Feels Overwhelming

This section is for a different situation. AssistiveTouch adds tools while keeping your iPhone looking normal. Assistive Access is a different feature entirely — it simplifies the whole interface. Large icons, fewer apps, a much simpler layout. Some people love it; others find it removes too much.

It is worth knowing about, especially if you are helping a family member who finds the standard iPhone too complex. Our Assistive Access guide walks through the full setup.

How to turn it on:

1. Open Settings
2. Tap Accessibility
3. Scroll down and tap Assistive Access
4. Tap Set Up Assistive Access and follow the steps

You choose which apps to include and the layout looks quite different — more like a very simple phone.

How to exit Assistive Access:

Triple-press the Side button, then enter your passcode when prompted. This is important to know before you turn it on, so you always have a way back.

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Quick Reference

Feature	Old way	New way on 17e
Screenshot	Side + Volume Up	Action Button or AssistiveTouch
Go Home	Press Home button	Swipe up from bottom
App Switcher	Double-press Home	Swipe up, hold
Power Off	Hold Side button	Side + Volume button, or Settings → General → Shut Down
Siri	Hold Home button	Hold Side button

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Common Questions

I accidentally turned on Assistive Access and now my phone looks completely different — what do I do?

Triple-press the Side button (the button on the right edge of the phone). A screen appears asking for your passcode. Enter it, and you get the option to exit Assistive Access. Your phone goes back to normal immediately.

The floating AssistiveTouch dot is annoying — can I make it less visible?

Yes. Open Settings, tap Accessibility, tap Touch, tap AssistiveTouch, and find Idle Opacity. Drag the slider far to the left — somewhere around 15 to 25 percent. The dot becomes nearly invisible when you are not touching it, but brightens as soon as you tap it. You get the safety net without the distraction.

Will my old screenshots still be there after I change how screenshots work?

Yes, completely. Where your screenshots are stored has nothing to do with how you take them. All screenshots go to Photos, then Albums, then Screenshots — whether you used the old button combination, the Action Button, or AssistiveTouch. Nothing moves and nothing disappears.