How to Auto Scroll on iPhone & iPad: Every Method (2026)

By Sufiyan Yasa · October 12, 2026

iPhone has no single “auto scroll” switch. What it does have is a handful of accessibility features that can move a page for you, plus Safari extensions that can scroll continuously. Each one works differently, and the right choice depends on whether you want one screen at a time on command or a steady, continuous scroll.

This guide covers every method that works today, what each one is good at, and how to set it up.

Quick comparison

1. Back Tap: tap the back of your phone

Back Tap turns a double or triple tap on the back of your iPhone into an action – and two of those actions are Scroll Down and Scroll Up.

Set it up:

1. Open Settings → Accessibility → Touch → Back Tap.
2. Choose Double Tap (or Triple Tap).
3. Scroll to Scroll Gestures and pick Scroll Down.

Now a double tap with the finger that’s already holding the phone moves the page down by about one screen. It works in any app.

Good for: reading with one hand without stretching your thumb. Limits: iPhone only (not iPad), and it’s still one jump at a time – you’ll lose your line after each jump unless you’re reading in short chunks.

2. Voice Control: scroll by saying “scroll down”

Voice Control lets you operate your whole device by voice, including scrolling.

Set it up:

1. Open Settings → Accessibility → Voice Control and turn it on. The first time, iOS downloads a voice file.
2. In any app, say “Scroll down”, “Scroll up”, “Scroll to bottom” or “Scroll to top”.

Good for: truly hands-free use when you can’t touch the screen at all. Limits: each command moves one screen, so you’re talking every 15–30 seconds. It also keeps listening, which isn’t ideal on the train or in a library.

3. AssistiveTouch: replay a recorded swipe

AssistiveTouch adds a floating on-screen button. You can record a custom gesture – like a long, slow swipe up – and replay it with a tap.

Set it up:

1. Open Settings → Accessibility → Touch → AssistiveTouch and turn it on.
2. Tap Create New Gesture, draw a swipe from the bottom of the screen upwards, and save it.
3. Tap the AssistiveTouch button → Custom → your gesture to replay it.

Good for: people who find repeated swiping painful but can manage a light tap. Limits: two taps per scroll and no timer, so it isn’t automatic.

4. Speak Screen: listen instead of scrolling

If your goal is to get through a long article without scrolling, you can have it read to you.

Set it up:

1. Open Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content and turn on Speak Screen.
2. Optionally turn on Highlight Content so you can follow along.
3. On any page, swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen.

A small controller appears so you can pause, skip or change the speaking rate.

Good for: articles, especially when your eyes are tired. Limits: it reads everything – menus, captions, ads – and it’s no help for comics, where the story is in the pictures.

5. A Safari auto scroll extension

Safari on iPhone and iPad supports extensions, and that’s the only way to get a continuous, steady scroll in the browser: the page moves at a pace you choose until you pause it.

Glida is a Safari extension built for this. You set a speed once, press play, and the page glides at that pace – line after line for articles, panel after panel for webtoons. It can also flip one screen at a time on a timer for manga, loop or stop at the bottom, and remember a different speed for each website.

Set it up:

1. Install Glida from the App Store and open it once.
2. Turn the extension on: Settings → Apps → Safari → Extensions → Glida (on iOS 17: Settings → Safari → Extensions). Allow it on All Websites. Our guide to enabling Safari extensions has screenshots and troubleshooting.
3. Open any page in Safari, tap the Glida icon and press play.

Good for: long reads, manga, manhwa and webtoons, and anyone who wants to read without touching the screen at all. Limits: it only works in Safari – other browsers on iPhone don’t support Safari extensions – and it doesn’t scroll PDFs or ePub books.

What about Shortcuts, Guided Access or Reader?

• Shortcuts has no action that scrolls a page, so it can’t automate scrolling on its own.
• Guided Access doesn’t scroll, but it’s useful alongside the methods above: it locks the screen to one app and can disable touch, so a stray palm won’t stop your reading.
• Safari Reader strips a page down to the text, which makes any of these methods work better on cluttered news sites. It doesn’t scroll on its own.

Which method should you use?

• You want to read long text hands-free: a Safari extension like Glida, because it’s the only continuous option.
• You read webtoons or manga in Safari: a Safari extension again – see our guide to reading webtoons in Safari.
• You can’t use your hands at all: Voice Control, optionally combined with an extension so one command (“tap play”) starts a continuous scroll. Our hands-free reading accessibility guide goes deeper.
• You just want to stop stretching your thumb: Back Tap.

Not sure what speed to start at? Take the reading speed test to get a starting point for articles, webtoons and manga.