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HTC Edge Sense: What it is, why it’s awesome, and how to use it
Jun 18, 2025
HTC’s Edge Sense might be one of the most underrated features on any smartphone in 2019. Itdebuted on the HTCU11 back in 2017, and a version of it also made it to theGoogle Pixel 2andPixel 3, though only for Google Assistant integration. Then, HTClaunched theU12 Plusin 2018 with an improved version of Edge Sense. The feature is not availableon the HTCU12 Life.
Let’s take a look at how it works and what you can do with it.
How does HTCEdge Sense work?
The HTCU11 and U12 Plus have pressure sensors embedded in the phones’ left and right edges. Squeeze the phone, the sensors register it as a key press, and the phone performs a command. you may set these commands in the Settings menu. These commands can do simple things like enable to flashlight, or even open an app.
The Google Pixel 2 and 3 line use very similar sensors, but it only works for opening Google Assistant. The pressure sensitivity is adjustable for both Google and HTCdevices, though.
It’s a neat little idea. People hold their phones in such a way that squeezing is often easier and faster than many other device controls. This is especially true for something like a flashlight toggle where you usually have to unlock the display and open the quick settings.
How to set up Edge Sense
The setup process for Edge Sense is actually quite easy.
Just go to the Settings menu, scroll down until you find Edge Sense, and toggle it on. From there, the feature works with its default settings, but you can change those to as you like.
Opening the Edge Sense option in the Settings menu presents you with a simple screen with a few options.
The first option lets you adjust your short squeeze action, letting you pick the squeeze force level and what the action actually does. There aren’t a ton of options, but you can set it to open any app and there are some toggles and other useful controls.
The second option lets you adjust the squeeze and hold function. This works the same as the short squeeze setup — it just lets you have two distinct actions based on the duration of the squeeze.
You can set Edge Sense to launch any app, open Edge Launcher, open either HTCAlexa or your default Assistant app, take a screenshot, turn the flashlight on or off, activate a voice recording, engaging the Wi-Fi hotspot, play or pause music, or even just function as a back button.
After you’ve set everything up, you should have a short squeeze action that does a thing and a separate long squeeze action that does a separate thing. You can change the actions whenever you want.
Advanced HTCEdge Sense controls
Now that we’ve got the basics out of the way, let’s look at the more advanced settings. Edge Sense offers a few extra features with more specific functions. Let’s briefly go over those.
There are actually a ton of potential uses between the short and long squeezes, the in-app squeezes, and the double tap Edge Sense feature. When all is said and done, users can use Edge Sense to perform three general actions and over a dozen in-app actions with even more options if you want to use the in-app squeeze beta feature.
Other HTCEdge Sense features
Most of the desirable Edge Sense functions are things you can do elsewhere in the UI. For instance, the flashlight toggle or the Wi-Fi hotspot toggle are both in the Quick Settings. For the most part, Edge Sense adds convenience, rather than a new thing. However, it has some neat tricks.
Alexa and HTCSense Companion function without Edge Sense, but it’s definitely the best way to access them. Edge Launcher seems to be solely available in Edge Sense and we actually really like it. We only mentioned all three because it’s obvious HTCwants you to use them with Edge Sense.
Our recommendations
Of course, you can use this technology however you like, but if you’re looking for ideas, we can help. Here are our recommendations:
HTC’s Edge Sense is quite an awesome little feature. Many OEMs add extra input with an extra button or gesture controls. Those are perfectly fine, but Edge Sense adds extra functionality without being intrusive or even changing the design or shape of the phone. That’s impressive, especially since both Apple and Android phones are moving to a more gesture control style UI. If you have a newer HTCphone, you should definitely be using Edge Sense.
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