Since the very first iPhone , Apple has featured an on / off unspoken shift above the volume buttons . That all change with the iPhone 15 Pro , and every iPhone since — the mute switch was put back by something called the Action button .
The idea is simple : or else of a switching , you have a push you press and bear for a second ( to avoid inadvertent presses in your pouch or base ) to mute or unmute your iPhone . But of course , being a button , it ’s far more flexible than the mute switch . Just hop into your configurations menu to choose a dissimilar function for your Action clit .
Here are all the matter you could do with your Action clit .
Action button: Built-in options
Open preferences and solicit on theAction buttonmenu to change what it can do .
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Silent Mode : It ’s the mute electrical switch , in button cast ! Just press and hold to toggle between mute and un - silent .
pore : turn on the focus mode of your option . By default , it brings up a carte du jour of all your Focus modes , but you could select one ( like Do Not Disturb ) to always trip .
tv camera : plunge the Camera app , and you could select whether you want it to go straight off to Photo , Selfie , Video , Portrait , or Portrait Selfie . Once in the Camera app , it acts as a shutter clit .
optical Intelligence : begin with iOS 18.4 , an iPhone 15 Pro or any iPhone 16 ( let in the iPhone 16e ) can pose the Action button to spark Visual Intelligence .
Flashlight : release on or off the torch ( tv camera flash bulb ) .
Voice Memo : Pressing the Action release will right away start recording a voice memo , without establish the Voice Memos app . You ’ll see it in the Dynamic Island , and another press stops the recording .
Recognize Music : Uses Shazam technical school to listen to the music playing around you and identify it .
understand : Listen to and translate spoken negotiation . You have to first pose your trust language in the Translate app .
Magnifier : launch the Magnifier accessibility feature , which can greatly magnify objects and text , and identify what it ’s looking at .
Controls : in a flash trigger one of the Control Center controls . You take a single Control Center control first , and then the Action clitoris triggers it . Certain kinds of Control Center control are not available .
cutoff : set in motion one of your Shortcuts just as if you were doing it from the Shortcuts app . This can be a very powerful feature , see below .
Accessibility : Enables or disables an Accessibility lineament , like color inversion , AssistiveTouch , Conversation Boost , or springy Speech .
No natural action : fundamentally disables the Action Button , in case you find yourself accidentally touch off it all the time .
Action Button: Use Shortcuts to do more
The capabilities of the Action button have been steadily expanding since its introduction with the iPhone 15 Pro , with iOS updates adding new options at a steady stride .
But if you want to be a real power user , you ’ll learn to habituate the Shortcut pick . This opens up a illimitable world of possibility for your Action button .
At a lower limit , it can lease you add a procedure you wish was there . For deterrent example , I care that you may set off a Control Center control , but what I desire to do isopen the Control Centerwithout fiddling with the sometimes clumsy nook - swipe simulated military operation . Well , I made a shortcut that is one action at law long : Show Control Center . set my Action button to launch that shortcut , and presto ! Now I have a button that open up Control Center at any time .
But you’re able to go so , somuch deeply . Jason Snell wroteabout how you could make the Action push execute different actions found on different parameters , like phone predilection . If your speech sound is upright ( portrait ) launch the flashlight . If it ’s landscape , start the Do Not touch focus mode .
Federico Viticci has a project he callsMultiButton , in which your Action button function one shortcut if you just entreat it once , but if you entreat it a second time within a few moment it runs a 2nd different cutoff rather .
Others have used Shortcuts to pop up a menu of mutual action that varies depending on the time of day , daytime of the week , location , and much more . Want your activity clitoris to do one thing at home and another matter when you ’re out ? Just make a crosscut that first checks if it ’s connected to your dwelling Wi - Fi and performs one natural process if it does , and a different action if it ’s not .
Shortcuts is a herculean tool once you learn how to apply it , and having a button on the outside of your iPhone that can trigger any cutoff you want is a game - auto-changer .
