Galaxy S7: Enable Double Tap to Sleep

If you’re willing to use a custom launcher on the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge, then I can show you how to enable Double Tap to Sleep functionality.

I’m not sure if LG was the one to introduce the Double Tap to Wake and Double Tap to Sleep features to smartphones, but they certainly helped to make it a well known feature. They call this Knock On and Knock Off, but all the device is doing is detecting a succession of touches when the display is on or off. Most smartphones cannot do the Double Tap to Wake feature because to do so would mean it needs to keep the screen/digitizer on the whole time.

Most OEMs fuse these two parts together in order to make the device as thin as possible. This means the screen and the digitize act as one and can only be on or off.

If it’s on, then the battery drains like crazy but LG keeps these separate so they are able to only keep the digitizer on. This reduces the battery drain immensely and lets the phone detect if you are tapping the screen even when it is off. Sadly, I don’t think Double Tap to Wake is possible on the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge because of this reason but there is a way to enable Double Tap to Sleep functionality. This feature might be possible with a free custom launcher, or even just a single 3rd-party application but I’m going to focus on an application called Nova Launcher. To enable this feature with Nova Launcher though, you’ll need to pay for Nova Launcher Prime to unlock the premium features like gestures.

If anyone knows of a free custom launcher or a standalone 3rd-party application that can enable Double Tap to Sleep on the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge then feel free to talk about them in the comments section below. I will only approve links to the Google Play Store though.

Galaxy S7 Double Tap to Sleep

1. Download the Nova Launcher App
2. Download the Nova Launcher Prime App
3. Launch the Settings Application on the Galaxy S7
4. Scroll Down and Tap on the ‘Applications’ Option
5. Then Tap on the ‘Default Applications’ Option
6. Tap on the ‘Home Screen’ Option
7. Then Tap on the ‘Nova Launcher’ Option to Make it the Default Launcher
8. Press the Home Button
9. Tap and Hold on an Empty Spot of the Home Screen
10. Then tap the ‘Settings Option’
11. Tap on the ‘Gestures & Inputs’ Option
12. Scroll Down and Tap on the ‘Double Tap’ Option
13. Tap on the ‘Screen Lock’ Option
14. Then Press the Home Button
15. Double Tap on an Empty Spot of the Home Screen
16. Tap the ‘Enable’ Button at the Bottom Right
17. And Lastly Tap the ‘Activate’ Button at the Bottom Right

Explanation

Now, this is strange. If you use this feature on some devices then you cannot use your fingerprint to unlock it when you double tap the screen to put it to sleep. You’ll even see a warning that says it is not possible. For other devices it’s just that the way Nova Launcher locks the device with this feature. It says it is a secure lock and it will require the PIN, pattern or password to unlock it. However, in my testing, I am still able to unlock the device with my fingerprint. I’m not sure if this is special with Marshmallow, if it’s special with Samsung’s version of Marshmallow, or if it’s just something with the Galaxy S7(and possibly other Samsung devices with their own fingerprint scanner).

I came across this issue when trying to use this feature on the Nexus 6P but it doesn’t seem to be happening on the Galaxy S7. If it happens to you though, then there are multiple ‘screen off’ apps in the Play Store that when launched, will turn the screen off. Instead of selecting the Screen Lock option within Nova Launcher’s Gestures & Inputs section, you could swipe over to the Apps tab and then select this screen off application. The functionality will be the same with double tapping the home screen to lock the app but there are some that will let you unlock the device with your fingerprint(again, at least this is how it was on the Nexus 6P).

Whatever the reason, I appreciate that it works the most convenient way on the Galaxy S7 and I assume it will work the same on the Galaxy S7 Edge as well. Some people will feel that this Double Tap to Sleep feature is redundant because the Power button is so easily accessible. Some might feel it’s more useful on the S7 Edge because of its bigger size too. Then there are those who just like having these unique features on their phone and maybe they are in the habit of doing it because their old phone was an LG one with Knock Off. Whatever the reason is, I enjoy having the feature on my phones and it’s just another one of the many reasons why I use Nova Launcher as my custom launcher.