How to Get the Most Out of the iPhone 15 Pro's Action Button

With the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple replaced the traditional mute switch with a new multi-function Action Button. The button can be assigned to perform a number of tasks, ranging from activating the flashlight to turning on the camera. Perhaps the most useful way to use the Action Button is with Shortcuts, because the single button can perform more than one action at once or bring up a selection of tools.


We've rounded up three of the best methods for using Shortcuts to get the most out of the Action Button.

  1. MultiButton Shortcut - Federico Vittici of MacStories created a way for two separate shortcuts to be assigned to the Action button. With MultiButton, if you press the Action Button once, it runs the primary shortcut, but if you press it twice in quick succession, it will run a secondary shortcut. Since Apple doesn't support multiple presses for the Action Button, this is a clever workaround. The MultiButton Shortcut is available from MacStories, and Viticci also has some Shortcut suggestions to use with the MultiButton.
  2. Position-Based Actions - YouTuber Dan Vittorini created a Shortcut that performs different actions depending on the orientation of the iPhone when it's activated. If the ‌iPhone‌ is in portrait orientation, it toggles silent mode. If the phone is held with the top to the left, it takes a photo, and if the phone is held with the top to the right, it takes a video. You can, of course, customize these to your liking.
  3. Shortcuts Folder - Perhaps the simplest way to make use of the Action Button is to set it to show the Shortcuts Folder, a unique action only available to the Action Button. You can set it to show all of your Shortcuts or just your favorites, so when you press the Action Button, you get a menu with your most useful Shortcuts. To set this up, open up the Settings app, choose Action Button, swipe over to Shortcut, tap on Choose a Shortcut... then select Show Folder and choose your preferred folder.

Have you found other interesting ways to use the Action Button? Let us know in the comments below.

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Top Rated Comments

contacos Avatar
15 months ago
It’s in a weird position and should be positioned below the power button to use it frequently to be honest
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FSMBP Avatar
15 months ago
Can't wait until they allow us to do different actions based on: long press, single press, double-press.

Ideally, long press would turn silent on/off

A single press would be nice for a shortcuts menu or camera.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
orev Avatar
15 months ago
I like the Action button, but just can't get on board with that configuration screen. It's just so out of place compared to every other setting screen. I hope it doesn't foreshadow a major redesign they have planned for future IOS versions.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thelookingglass Avatar
15 months ago
Have to be honest. I set it once when I got the phone and have never thought about it again.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cocky jeremy Avatar
15 months ago
There aren't enough useful actions right now for this to be worth it to me. I just use it to go into the camera straight into video mode. Lockscreen for photos, action button for video.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PuffleDunk Avatar
15 months ago
I'm happy with a shortcut menu I created. When I long press the Action button I get a text menu that looks something like this (with explanations in parens):

Actions:
Camera (go to Camera - photo mode)
Silence (toggle ringer on/off)
Flashlight (toggle flashlight on/off)
Magnifier (go to Magnifier)
Voice (go to Voice Recorder)
Files... (bring up a sub-menu of important documents to view, e.g. driver's license, insurance, passport, Covid card, etc.)

It's all in a single shortcut I called "Action Button".

The action is "Choose from Menu". Each menu item gets a simple action to invoke, with "Files..." getting a sub-menu (using the same "Choose from Menu" action).

The "Files..." menu items invoke "Open File" with various documents chosen from folders in the Files app.

Hope that's useful.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)