Apple’s Wonderlust event in September gave us a lot to shimmer when it comes to the all-powerful iPhone 15 series, the USB-C, the iOS 17. One of the most significant features has been the Action Button available only on iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. It’s an actual hardware button located on the top-left corner, a programmable button to access any app or functionality with just a tap. Let’s see all that you can do with the new Action Button on iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max.
How To Use the Action Button on iPhone 15 Pro Series?
Apple has dedicated settings to configure the Action Button. You can follow the steps below to configure it without any hassle. The process is pretty straightforward since all you have to do is to swipe and select. You can assign only one action at any time so if you want to switch from Silent Mode to Camera (i.e. two separate actions), you have to repeat the process mentioned below to reconfigure the Action Button.
- Go to Settings on your iPhone 15 Pro.
- Proceed to the ‘Action Button’ settings on the phone.
- Once there, all you have to do is to slide through the cool animations with each slide unraveling a pre-defined function such as Silent Mode, Camera, Focus Mode, and so on.
- Select the one you want and bingo, you can use the Action button for the selected function.
- You can change the action by repeating the initial steps and choosing a different function for the Action Button to trigger.
Action Button: The Pre-Defined Functions
Following is the list of all the predefined actions/functions that you can perform on your iPhone 15 Pro series using the Action button. Of course, you can select just one at a time.
Silent Mode
The Action button on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max replaced the alert slider. So naturally, the first thing it would do is to let you turn ON Silent Mode on your iPhone or turn it back OFF. That’s as simple as it gets and it’s default unless you change it to something else.
Focus Mode
When it’s about being productive and concentrating on your studies or work, Focus mode on iPhones helps keep those pesky and unnecessary notifications away. Turn it ON and OFF immediately with a press of an ‘Action’ button.
Camera
If you are someone who clicks a lot of pictures or videos or is always in search of those instantaneous moments that would be better caught on the camera, this Action task is for you. When setting it up, you get to choose what mode it will launch in the Camera app – photo, video, selfie, portrait, and portrait selfie. You can always swipe to other modes should you set it to a default photo mode after tapping the Action button.
Flashlight
Need an instant torch or a flashlight, this option is for you. Turn it ON and turn it back OFF with just a press of a button.
Voice Memo
Set it up and you get to start and stop recording a voice memo. It’s especially for those
Magnifier
Launch Magnifier with just a tap. Doing so enlarges the viewfinder so that you can read even the minute text on the screen.
Accessibility Suite
Your iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max have a tonne of accessibility features that you can access simply with a press of the Action button.
Shortcut
To be honest, I found Shortcut to be one of the best Action button functions hands down. You can set it up to launch an app or make it work like Samsung’s Edge Panel where a set of apps or features shortcuts can be selected. Once you press the Action button set of Shortcut, it gives you the folder containing all the shortcuts you have selected. You can create multiple folders in the settings and select either one depending on the use cases such as when at work and when at home.
Translate
Out of ten features announced at the Apple Wonderlust 2023, nine were available leaving only the ‘Translate’ Action for ‘later’. With the iOS 17.2 Beta seeding out, the feature is now available allowing users to translate phrases and conversations that are displayed on the Dynamic Island itself. There’s no need to open the ‘Translate’ app anymore. Simply press and translate and that’s how simple the feature is actually.
Do Nothing
Well, it does exactly what it says, it does absolutely nothing. The feature tends to prevent unwanted or accidental stimuli in case you don’t set any feature to pop up or launch when the Action button is pressed.
Supercharging the Action button
MultiButton
Developed by Federico Vittici, MultiButton is a powerful feature that lets you create two separate shortcuts to the Action button. Available to be installed as ‘Shortcut’, you can set up two Action functions. When you press the Action button once, it invokes the primary function. If you want to access secondary functions such as “Camera (1) and Instagram (2)”, press the Action button in quick succession within a second or two of the first press to invoke the secondary function.
Powering the Shortcut Function
Don’t want a separate app on your iPhone and take the pain of setting up the entire flow, here’s how you can supercharge the Shortcut function.
- Open Settings >> Action Button >> Shortcuts app.
- Next up, tap on the Shortcuts tab a few times.
- Next, tap on the “New Folder icon” located in the top-right corner.
- You need to add the various shortcuts in a particular folder as you want. Tap on “Edit” to move the shortcuts around in their desired position which will be available once you press the Action button.
- Hit the “Done” button to finish.
- You can create multiple functions carrying different functions for your use case.
- Go to “Settings >> Action Button >> Shortcut”.
- Search for “Show Folder” which will get you all the folders you have created within the Shortcuts tab.
- Select the folder you want to use and bingo, it’s done.
Orientation-Based Actions
Action button is a good feature but limited to what it can do with pre-defined functions unless you’re using the ‘Shortcuts’ function. With that being said, some add-ons let you maximize the functionality of a single click based on the orientation of the device. Let’s see how it works.
- First up, go to the App Store and download an app called ‘Actions’.
- Next, open the Shortcuts app >> click on the + icon located in the top-right corner and create a Shortcut naming it as per your preference but descriptive names are advisable.
- Next, you need to create a query within the Shortcuts app. Here’s how –
- You will get a search bar at the bottom, click on it and search for “Is Device Orientation”.
- Once you find it, click on “Add to Shortcut” which is a clearly defined button.
- Click on the Orientation field and you get several options in the dropdown, select “Landscape Left”.
- Next up, set up an if-else statement. Here’s how –
- On the bottom search bar, search for “if” and select “Scripting >> If”.
- Select “Add to Shortcut >> If” where you need to input a field by adding a task nested within.
- Next up, select “Otherwise” appears as an alternative or nested option in case the “else” conditions aren’t fulfilled.
- You can check the flow in the “If Device Orientation” indicating a flow.
- Next, set up the If task
- At the bottom, you need to select a task such as “Camera >> Photo” or other options you want.
- Next, add the “Otherwise” task by searching for a task in the bottom bar that should appear in the flow as well.
- Run a test by hitting the “Play” button where you will be asked to grant some permissions. Save by hitting the “Done” button.
- Finally, open “Settings on your iPhone >> Action Button >> Shortcut >> Choose a Shortcut”.
- You need to select the newly created “Shortcut” icon and save the settings.
- Depending upon the tasks selected in the “If-else” statement, using the phone in a particular orientation will execute said tasks. Press the Action button once for the primary task, total the phone in landscape leftward, and press the Action button to trigger nested functions. Wait, and press again to execute the “Otherwise” task.
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