The Line At The Bottom Of Your iPhone Screen Isn’t For Aesthetics – Here’s What It Does

The Line At The Bottom Of Your iPhone Screen Isn’t For Aesthetics – Here’s What It Does

The Line At The Bottom Of Your iPhone Screen Isn’t For Aesthetics – Here’s What It Does

https://www.bgr.com/2125894/what-iphone-screen-bottom-line-does/

Publish Date: 2026-03-22 08:17:00

Source Domain: www.bgr.com

José Adorno/BGR

From the iPhone X, released in 2017, to the modern iPhone 17 Pro Max, all Apple smartphones with Face ID feature a line at the bottom of the device. While it does look very aesthetic, there’s a main reason why Apple added it: It’s the Home Indicator. Before the iPhone X’s introduction, a Home Button appeared on previous iPhones, so it’s always been easy for the consumer to understand that if they touch the Home Button, they go back to the main Home Screen.

Apple made things even more convenient when it added Touch ID with the iPhone 5S, as not even sliding your finger was necessary to unlock the phone. Users would just have to briefly rest their finger at the biometrical sensor placed in the Home Button, et voilà, the iPhone would be unlocked.

However, with the release of the iPhone X, and the addition of Face ID authentication, Apple didn’t require a Home Button anymore, and the company addressed it with the Home Indicator. Still, this line at the bottom of your iPhone does more than showing how you can go back to the Home Screen.

iPhone’s line at the bottom does more than just indicating the Home Screen

A hand holding the iPhone 16 Pro Max with Apple Music's animated cover for the Lock Screen

José Adorno/BGR


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