{"id":82578,"date":"2025-10-18T09:40:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T09:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/82578\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T09:40:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T09:40:11","slug":"these-are-my-12-favorite-uses-for-the-iphone-action-button","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/82578\/","title":{"rendered":"These Are My 12 Favorite Uses for the iPhone Action Button"},"content":{"rendered":"

The iPhone\u2019s Action Button is now a staple feature of Apple\u2019s smartphone lineup. In its default state, it does exactly what the ringer switch it replaced does: toggle silent mode on and off.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s so much more you can do with this control, especially if your iPhone lives permanently in silent mode. I recently upgraded my iPhone, and here are some of my favorite uses I\u2019ve dabbled with.<\/p>\n

Setting the Action Button<\/p>\n

The Action Button is a feature of the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16 and later, appearing on the left-hand edge of the device if you\u2019re holding your iPhone in portrait mode. It occupies the space that was dedicated to a ringer roggle, except it\u2019s no longer a switch but a regular button. To use it, press and hold to perform your desired action.<\/p>\n

On supported models, you\u2019ll be able to change what action is performed under Settings > Action Button. If you decide to get rid of the silent mode toggle functionality, you will find a control for this under the Control Center (which you can access by swiping down from the top-right corner of the screen).<\/p>\n

You can even turn the button off altogether using this menu, but why would you when there are so many useful things you can do with it instead?<\/p>\n

1 <\/p>\n

Flashlight<\/p>\n

\"Control<\/p>\n

You can bind the Action Button to your flashlight in the Settings menu, and this is one of the first things I did when I upgraded to the iPhone 17 Pro. You don\u2019t need to unlock your iPhone for this to work; you can simply squeeze and hold the button.<\/p>\n

If you go this route, you can choose to replace the flashlight button that appears on your iPhone\u2019s lock screen with something else<\/a> (or remove it entirely for a clean look). Remember that, once turned on, you can tap on the flashlight icon in the iPhone\u2019s Dynamic Island to adjust the intensity and angle (Pro models) of the beam.<\/p>\n

2 <\/p>\n

Shazam<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Another incredibly useful option that Apple included in the Action Button menu is the ability to identify any song that\u2019s currently playing. This works entirely in the background, as indicated by a small icon that appears in the Dynamic Island at the top of the screen. You can use it without interrupting what you\u2019re doing or unlocking your device.<\/p>\n

The song will automatically be added to your Shazam app once recognized, with a notification at the top of the screen and a quick link to Apple Music. Though I\u2019ve used my Apple Watch for Shazam purposes in the past, if I\u2019m going out for the night and I expect to hear music I\u2019ll want to save for later, then I\u2019ll set my Action Button to Shazam for ease of use.<\/p>\n

3 <\/p>\n

Controlling a Smart Home<\/p>\n

\"Home<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve recently built out my smart home in a way that I\u2019ve been intending to do for a while. Though I use Home Assistant as the backbone of the system, most of my day-to-day interactions with my smart home use the Apple Home interface.Apple\u2019s smart home platform integrates neatly within a Home Assistant<\/a> setup and offers an arguably more pleasant interface.<\/p>\n

I discovered that you can quickly access the Home app via the Action Button using a few different methods. The easiest is to bind the Action Button to a \u201cControl\u201d and then choose the \u201cHome\u201d control. Keep in mind that you need to unlock your device to access the app.<\/p>\n

You can also bind the \u201cScene or Accessory\u201d control to your Action Button in this menu. This is ideal for triggering a specific accessory, like a garage door or an alarm system. I built out a makeshift alarm in Home Assistant<\/a> and exposed it as a switch, which means I could use the \u201cScene or Accessory\u201d control to arm or disable it.<\/p>\n

4 <\/p>\n

Running a Shortcut<\/p>\n

\"Running<\/p>\n

Pick \u201cShortcut\u201d from the Action Button menu to run any of your iPhone workflows simply by pressing and holding the button. For the uninitiated, Shortcuts lets you build workflows using visual code blocks that perform all sorts of actions on your iPhone.<\/p>\n

For example, you might have a shortcut you use to record something within the Apple Health app like a measurement<\/a> or water intake. Pick \u201cShortcut\u201d from the Action Button menu, then map the desired workflow. You can run the shortcut from anywhere, whatever you\u2019re doing (in this instance, you\u2019ll see a pop-up appear to enter your measurement).<\/p>\n

The Shortcuts app is key to unlocking a ridiculous amount of potential for the Action Button (as we\u2019ll discover later).<\/p>\n

5 <\/p>\n

Open Literally Any App<\/p>\n

\"ChatGPT<\/p>\n

You can pin apps to your dock, place them on your home screen, and even ask Siri to open them. But you might have one or two apps that are so mission-critical that you want to bind a physical button to them. Thankfully, by creating a new workflow in Shortcuts with the \u201cOpen App\u201d action, you can do just that.<\/p>\n

In fact, for some apps, you can go even further. The ChatGPT app, for example, lets you jump straight to a voice query, as does Amazon\u2019s Alexa. Google lets you initiate a voice search or jump straight to Google Lens. You can do this with app-specific actions in the Shortcuts app for a vast range of applications.<\/p>\n

6 <\/p>\n

Get Directions Home<\/p>\n

\"Get<\/p>\n

Speaking of app-specific actions, use the \u201cOpen Directions\u201d action in Shortcuts to quickly plan a route home. You can specify your mode of transport and use your current location, then pick your home address or tell Maps to \u201cAsk Each Time\u201d if you want a more generic route planner. You can even pick which app is used, so you can use this Shortcut to route you home via Google Maps.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve designed your workflow, bind the Action Button to it using the menu.<\/p>\n

7 <\/p>\n

Control Music Playback<\/p>\n

\"Control<\/p>\n

A physical playback button is something most of us gave up on when we moved from dedicated MP3 players to smartphones, but there\u2019s no denying the utility. Not having to take your media player out of your pocket to pause or skip what\u2019s playing feels like a lost convenience, especially if your headphones don\u2019t support the feature.<\/p>\n

Weirdly, Apple didn\u2019t include this as a baked-in option, nor is there a \u201cControl\u201d entry for it. To use it, you\u2019ll need to create a new workflow in Shortcuts with the \u201cPlay\/Pause\u201d or \u201cSkip Forward\u201d action and then save it. From here, pick \u201cShortcut\u201d and then select your new shortcut. This one works without having to unlock your iPhone.<\/p>\n

8 <\/p>\n

Keep an Eye on Important Health Data<\/p>\n

\"Get<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve previously looked at how wearables and health technology can help you stay on top of conditions like diabetes<\/a>. What\u2019s great is that such devices log health samples automatically, so you can browse them at your leisure. Some health conditions require a closer eye, and for that, you can build a workflow to fetch a specific sample whenever you squeeze the Action Button.<\/p>\n

To do this, I used the \u201cFind Health Sample\u201d Action in Shortcuts. If you have a blood glucose monitor, you could fetch that sample, but I went for \u201cBlood oxygen\u201d to prove the concept since my Apple watch records that fairly frequently. From here, I set the \u201cStart date\u201d to be within the last day, sorted by \u201cStart date,\u201d and then made sure to set the \u201cOrder\u201d by latest first. Lastly, I used the \u201cLimit\u201d toggle to limit this to the last \u201c1\u201d sample.<\/p>\n

Finally, drop a \u201cShow Notification\u201d box in there and customize the alert to your liking. Bind the Action Button to the Shortcut in the usual menu, and you\u2019re done. This one requires that your device be unlocked, for obvious reasons.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

9 <\/p>\n

Enabling and Disabling Orientation Lock<\/p>\n

\"Toggling<\/p>\n

I live my life with the orientation of my iPhone locked to portrait. As a result, I sometimes forget that using my iPhone in landscape mode is an option. Using the Action Button to quickly toggle this setting without messing around in the Control Center is a bit of a game-changer.<\/p>\n

This is especially true if you\u2019re always using a particular app or website that greatly benefits from landscape mode. Since Apple didn\u2019t include a \u201cControl\u201d for this, it\u2019s back to the Shortcuts app to build a shortcut that contains the \u201cToggle orientation lock\u201d action and save it. Now pick \u201cShortcut\u201d and select your workflow from the Action Button menu.<\/p>\n

10 <\/p>\n

Toggling a VPN<\/p>\n

\"Toggling<\/p>\n

Not every website or service plays nicely with VPNs. I\u2019ve had trouble getting SharePlay to work in the car when my VPN is enabled in the past, and disabling it requires unlocking the phone, finding the app, and tapping the connect button. Thankfully, there\u2019s an easier way.<\/p>\n

I currently use ExpressVPN, which uses a \u201cControl\u201d called \u201cQuick Connect\u201d that I can map to my Action Button. DuckDuckGo\u2019s VPN has a similar option.<\/p>\n

If your VPN doesn\u2019t support this sort of control, there\u2019s another way you can do this. Head back to the Shortcuts app and create a new workflow with the \u201cSet VPN\u201d action. Change \u201cConnect\u201d to \u201cToggle\u201d and tap the \u201cVPN\u201d variable to select your preferred protocol. Now save the workflow and head back to the Action Button menu, select \u201cShortcuts\u201d and pick the shortcut you just created.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll see the \u201cVPN\u201d icon appear and then disappear in the top-right corner of your iPhone\u2019s display when you connect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The iPhone\u2019s Action Button is now a staple feature of Apple\u2019s smartphone lineup. In its default state, it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[85,46,321,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-82578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-mobile","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}