How to use Action button on iPhone: Standard and unexpected ways

How to use the Action button

You can use the Action button on iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, and iPhone 16e by simply pressing or holding the small button above the volume up and volume down buttons.

By default, the action button mutes or unmutes your text and ringtones. It performs the same role as the old Ringer/Silent switch. By going to the Settings app, you can reassign it to another task, as well as mute your phone through the Control Center.

How to reassign the Action button to a flashlight

Apple allows you to assign several different controls to the Action button:

• Silent mode (Ring/Silent)
• Focus (either a specific Focus mode or a menu that lets you choose each time)
• Camera (a specific mode, such as Photo or Video)
• Flashlight, Voice recorder, Music recognition, Translation, Magnifier
• Controls (a specific control from the Control Panel, e.g. Flight Mode)
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Universal Access (switching a specific universal access function), or do nothing at all.

If you want to change the button's purpose from Silent Mode to a flashlight, do the following:

• Unlock your phone
• Open the Settings application
• Click on the Action button
• Scroll through the different options until you get to Flashlight
• To check that everything works, try pressing the Action button.

Reassign the Action button to a flashlight (photo: Engadget)

You can use the same process to reassign the Action button to any of the built-in functions offered by Apple.

How to customize the Action button to open apps

If you want to extend the capabilities of the Action button a bit further, you can also customize it to open a specific app on your phone. For example, if your favorite game on your iPhone is Balatro, you can set up the Action button to automatically open the game when you click it.

To set this up, you need to unlock your iPhone.

• Open the Settings app
• Click on the Action button
• Scroll through the options to Shortcut
• Tap Select a shortcut...
• Then select Open application...
• Scroll through the list and select the app you want.

How to make an action button open an app (photo: Engadget)

This process will work for any app on your phone, including app-specific functions, such as if you want to immediately switch to ChatGPT voice mode or create a new note in the Notes app.

Customize the Action button to activate a shortcut

The shortcut feature also works for more complex Apple shortcuts. Technically, any shortcut that can be activated manually (as opposed to those that are triggered by time or location) works. There are a lot of interesting shortcuts out there, and you can create your own,

How to set up an Action button to launch shortcuts:

• Open the Settings app
• Click on the Action button
• Scroll through the options until you reach Shortcut
• Tap Select a keyboard shortcut...
• Click on any shortcut you want to activate
• Press and hold the action button to make sure it works.

How to make the Action button activate a shortcut (photo: Engadget)

With shortcuts, widgets on the Lock screen, Home screen, and the Action button, there are now multiple ways to check information in an app, adjust specific settings, or use specific features of apps on iPhone.

It's confusing, but a good rule of thumb is that the Action button is best for actions you only need to do once or to turn features on/off.