The most significant innovation in the iPhone 15 Pro this year doesn’t come from the lighter titanium frame, the faster A17 Pro processor, or its camera. It’s the Action Button, the little button above the volume keys that replaces the old mute switch on every iPhone.
The Action Button can do way more than you think! At first, it works just like the mute switch, to change sound settings. But the real magic starts when you customize it using the Shortcuts app. That’s when you can make the Action Button do almost anything with just a press!
Some examples of what you can do:
- Launch your favorite apps like the Camera or Flashlight super fast
- Add tasks to your to-do list
- Create calendar events
- Lock or unlock your screen rotation
- Start recording voice memos
- Identify songs using Shazam
- Resume your last music or podcast
- Control smart home devices
The possibilities are endless! Power users have come up with some really creative ways to use the Action Button too. You can even make it open a menu of other shortcuts to choose from.
Setting it all up takes some patience though. The Shortcuts app can be buggy and hard to use. Building complex shortcuts on a computer first makes it much easier. You’ll also want to avoid long shortcuts that could time out.
Even with limitations, the Action Button has seriously leveled up how I use my iPhone. It makes it feel like a tiny computer in my hand. I can change my shortcuts whenever and they launch way faster than widgets or accessibility options. The Action Button is a real game changer – I hope future iPads and Android devices copy this great idea too!
