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Other Action Button: How will you use it?

M

Macalicious2011

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 15, 2011
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London
This is probably the most underrated new feature that many of us will likely use daily. I expected Apple to only allow it to be used for silent, torch and camera. However it can also be use to launch apps and….shortcuts? I wonder if it will be configurable to different profiles e.g in the home, office, gym, car and out and about.

Launching camera by pressing one button is much quicker than unlocking and swiping up. Any ideas for cool shorts and their scenarios?

IMG_2991.jpeg
 
It's a great idea. Remains to be seen how easy it is to use once a case is on the phone. A lot of cases I've seen for the 14 series make the mute switch pretty hard to use except with a longish fingernail.
 
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janeauburn said:
It's a great idea. Remains to be seen how easy it is to use once a case is on the phone. A lot of cases I've seen for the 14 series make the mute switch pretty hard to use except with a longish fingernail.
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Good point! I hope that with or without a case, it’s not too easy to accidentally press. However, I imagine it not being too dissimilar to a volume or power button.
 
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Macalicious2011 said:
This is probably the most underrated new feature that many of us will likely use daily. I expected Apple to only allow it to be used for silent, torch and camera. However it can also be use to launch apps and….shortcuts? I wonder if it will be configurable to different profiles e.g in the home, office, gym, car and out and about.

Launching camera by pressing one button is much quicker than unlocking and swiping up. Any ideas for cool shorts and their scenarios?

View attachment 2259875
Click to expand...
Many long years before the Action Button there was a jailbreak tweak called Activator. By iOS 9, Activator was allowing you to assign almost anything you wanted to do to any hardware button, screen swipe, gesture and Touch ID action that you could think up. They even allowed you to stack options.

I'm glad Apple finally got around to this. It means when I eventually wind up with an iPhone with the Action Button I get actions back.

I'd probably set it to unlock the phone and switch off screen rotation, just like when my 6s Plus was jailbroken. And the opposite to lock the phone when on the homescreen and enable rotation.
 
Macalicious2011 said:
Good point! I hope that with or without a case, it’s not too easy to accidentally press. However, I imagine it not being too dissimilar to a volume or power button.
Click to expand...
Probably why it is long press (a.k.a. press and hold)
Apple said:
Once you set the one you want, just press and hold to launch the action
Click to expand...
www.apple.com

iPhone

Designed for Apple Intelligence. Discover the new iPhone 16e along with iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16, and iPhone 15.
www.apple.com
 
MacCheetah3 said:
Someone inquired about this already:


Unfortunately, the multi-action support hoped by that thread starter doesn’t appear to have come to fruition.
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Interesting. Multi-Action would be good and plausible in the future. Apple tends to roll out one feature, getting to work really will and then layer on another dimension. In the future, it might even be a “fake” button that you can press or swipe.

However, as a starting point - support for shortcuts is more than genius knowing Apple’s history of treating its users like toddler by dumbing down features.
 
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Macalicious2011 said:
Since I purchased an Apple Watch, my iPhone is always on silent. I like the discretion of receiving notifications by wrist vibrations only.
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Epix 2, exact same experience, but now and again I still switch the iPhone's silent mode. This is for sure the thing I'd choose because I use the others between far less to never (voice notes, accessibility, zoom?). Camera and flashlight I can already turn on from the lock screen.
 
sniffies said:
I was hoping a single press of the button would launch the Camera app and take the first shot.

Not the case.
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Not quite a (quick) press, however, the Action button supports being linked to a Shortcut and then there’s:

appleinsider.com

How to use the new camera actions in Shortcuts for iOS 17

For iOS 17, Apple has introduced a feature that photography enthusiasts will love — the "Open Camera" action in Shortcuts. Here's how to set up and configure the action.
appleinsider.com appleinsider.com
 
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I think I am going to make the Action Button open the Shortcuts app, and then arrange all my frequently used functions as a list in Shortcuts. That way everything will be press the button and one tap. I basically do this on my watch (with a complication) and it works pretty well, and it does make all my common actions noticeably quicker. The nice thing with using Shortcuts is you can then do multiple actions at once.
 
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Context-sensitive custom shortcut. I just started working on it for an Apple Watch complication today as I don’t yet have an action button.

Basically, things like:
- if it’s time to drop kids off at school (weekday, at home, certain time range), start directions to school (for alt traffic routes).
- if at kids school around drop off time, start directions to work. If pick up time, to home.
- if I’ve arrived home in last x min, open garage door if closed, or close if open.
- else, show pick list of common work or home tasks depending on where I am.

I’m using dummy switches in Homekit (via helpers in home assistant) to help track next actions.
 
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poorcody said:
I think I am going to make the Action Button open the Shortcuts app, and then arrange all my frequently used functions as a list in Shortcuts. That way everything will be press the button and one tap. I basically do this on my watch (with a complication) and it works pretty well, and it does make all my common actions noticeably quicker. The nice thing with using Shortcuts is you can then do multiple actions at once.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I might try the same. Never thought of using shortcuts on the Apple watch either.

I also wonder what actions will require the phone to be unlocked. I would love to activate the camera whilst grabbing the phone and being ready to shoot in an instant.
 
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thecautioners said:
Camera. My partner is a skateboarder and I am constantly taking videos of her. She’s one of the main reasons I want to have the latest and greatest camera possible, along with my kids of course.
Click to expand...
Same here. Shooting the kids quicker in a fun moment and without having to choose between normal and portrait is a big win!
 
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