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zoom controls on (older) iPhone camera (2.5.1)?

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From: glen walker
Date: Nov 4, 2019 10:35AM

I sometimes use the camera app as a magnifier if I'm trying to read text
that is too small, for example on a restaurant menu (especially if the
lighting is low) or the fine print on a legal document. I noticed when I
pinch to zoom, a plus/minus slider appears. When it's visible, I can
either slide the thumb, touch the plus/minus buttons, or swipe up/down to
adjust the value when voiceover is running. But I have not been able to
figure out how to get the slider to appear without first doing a pinch to
zoom gesture.

If I could not pinch to zoom initially, then do I have to turn on assistive
touch to start a zoom gesture in order to get the slider to appear?

A voiceover user can change the rotor setting to "zoom" and then adjust the
magnification (although that doesn't cause the zoom slider to appear). A
sighted mobility impaired user probably wouldn't use voiceover.

I looked at
https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/take-photos-iph263472f78/ios#iph1300d7647
which has info on zooming the camera. It sounds like there might be zoom
buttons on the newer iphones. I have an older phone, 6 plus, which is not
listed on that help page except under the first bullet point about "all
models" allow pinch to zoom. I have the latest iOS that's available for my
ancient phone, 12.4.3.

My iPad shows the zoom slider all the time. I don't know if that's because
it's a larger screen or because it's a newer iOS.

Anyone else have an older iPhone?