A quieter phone screen

How to Hide or Dim AssistiveTouch While Watching a Movie

The lights go down and your subtitles glow on a dark screen, but the iPhone’s AssistiveTouch button keeps floating over the app, bright enough to catch your eye. Here is how to dim it, turn it off with three presses, or let your iPhone do it for you whenever CinemaCC is open.

By · Published · Updated · Sources checked 3 min read

In short

  • CinemaCC cannot directly hide, dim or move the AssistiveTouch button, because iOS draws it above the app.
  • The safest low-distraction fix is Idle Opacity: the button fades when you stop using it, but stays available.
  • If you do not need AssistiveTouch for the film, select it in Accessibility Shortcut and triple-click the side button to turn it off, or let two Shortcuts automations turn it off while CinemaCC is open and back on when you leave.

Dim it or turn it off?

Dim it and keep it

Lower the button’s Idle Opacity and it fades once you stop using it, but it stays on screen and available.

Turn it off for the film

Select AssistiveTouch in Accessibility Shortcut, then triple-click the side button before the film, or let two Shortcuts automations turn it off whenever CinemaCC is open.

Dim it with Idle Opacity

Idle Opacity sets how visible the button stays once you stop using it.

  1. Open Settings and go to Accessibility › Touch › AssistiveTouch.
  2. Tap Idle Opacity.
  3. Choose the lowest level that still lets you find the button when you need it.

Turn it off with three presses

  1. Open Settings and go to Accessibility › Accessibility Shortcut.
  2. Select AssistiveTouch.
  3. Triple-click the side button before the film to turn AssistiveTouch off. Triple-click again when you need it back.

If the shortcut contains more than one accessibility feature, iOS shows a menu so you can choose AssistiveTouch.

Turn it off while CinemaCC is open

Two personal automations in the Shortcuts app do this for you: one turns AssistiveTouch off when CinemaCC opens, the other turns it back on when you leave. Screens differ a little between iOS versions, so follow the names rather than the layout.

Is OpenedIs Closed CinemaCC AssistiveTouch On Off On Is OpenedIs Closed CinemaCC AssistiveTouch On Off On
Two automations, one rule: AssistiveTouch is off only while CinemaCC is open.
  1. Create a personal automation in the Shortcuts app and choose the App trigger.
  2. Select CinemaCC and choose Is Opened.
  3. Add the system action Set AssistiveTouch and set it to Off.
  4. Choose Run Immediately if your iPhone offers that option, so iOS does not ask you to confirm each time.
  5. Create a second automation with the App trigger, CinemaCC and Is Closed.
  6. Add Set AssistiveTouch and set it to On, then choose Run Immediately again if it is offered.
  7. Try it before the film. Open CinemaCC and the button should disappear; leave CinemaCC and it should come back.

Personal automations belong to the device that created them. CinemaCC cannot install these automations or change AssistiveTouch without your approval.

Related guides

Before You Bring Phone Subtitles to the Cinema: A Practical Checklist What to check at home, before you leave and in your seat, from matching the file to fixing drift. Read the guide How to Watch a Movie With Subtitles on Your Phone Read subtitles you understand on your phone or watch while the film stays on the television, a laptop, a projector or the cinema screen. Read the guide How to Watch a Movie at the Cinema in a Language You Don’t Speak Choose the right screening and compare official captions, synchronized apps and personal subtitles when a film is not in a language you understand. Read the guide

Sources and further reading