One of the coolest features Apple brought to its iPad and iPhone was the pinch-to-zoom gesture, making zooming in and out intuitive and natural.Previously, zoom features were either nonexistent or difficult to use. The Apple zoom feature works on photos, web pages, and any app that supports the pinch-zoom gesture.

These directions apply generally to all iPad and iPhone models running iPadOS 13 and later and iOS 13 and later.

Use Pinch Gestures to ZoomIn and Out 

To zoom in on a photo or web page, press on the screen with your index finger and thumb leaving only a small amount of space between the two fingers. A few things to keep in mind:

• Keep your finger and thumb on the screen, then move your fingers away from each other, expanding the space between them.
• As your fingers move apart, the screen zooms in.
• To zoom out, do the reverse: Move your thumb and index finger toward each other while keeping each pressedto thescreen.

Any two fingers can be used to zoom in and out on an iPhone or iPad, but for most people, the thumb and index finger make the most sense.

If it helps you remember, think of your fingers pinching a piece of paper. If you were to drag your fingers inward on a sheet of paper, it would fold into itself, becoming smaller. The same idea applies here.

Use the AccessibilityZoom Setting

In some cases, the pinch-to-zoom feature doesn't work. An app might not support the gesture, or a web page may have code that is running or a stylesheet setting that prevents the page from being expanded.

The iPad accessibility features include a zoom that always works no matter if you're in an app, on a web page, or viewing photos.

The feature isn't activated by default, so you must turn it on in the Setting app:

1. FromtheHomescreen, open theSettingsapp.

2. Go toAccessibility >Zoom.

   

3. Tap theZoomtoggle switch to make it green and turn it on.

After you activate zoom on your iPad or iPhone, you'll immediately see the magnifying glass, like shown here on an iPad.

The zoom functionality isn't captured in a screenshot, as you can see in this picture.

Press and hold the anchor/bar at the bottom of the zoom window to move it around the screen and see everything zoomed up. You can also press-and-drag three fingers, which might be preferred when zooming with this tool on a smaller screen like an iPhone.

Double-tap the screen with three fingers to enable or disable zoom. To disable it permanently, repeat the steps above and toggleZoom to the offposition.

From Accessibility>Zoom you can access other zoom options, such as increasing the maximum zoom level, choosing full-screen zoom over window zoom, picking a zoom filter, and more.