iPhone 15 Pro Action Button is a Horrible Idea

[fatTribble]

I'd be much more interesting in an action button than the mute switch. My phone goes on mute when it first comes out of the box and goes off mute maybe twice a year. If I could get a button in its place that could launch an app of my choosing or even run a shortcut, that could be 100x more useful.

Exactly! When mobile phones became popular the scenario of a ringer going off in a meeting quickly became irritating to everyone. No one wanted to be that guy.
I started turning my ringer off and relying on vibrate.

Once the Watch came out it became much easier for a vibration on the Watch to notify you of a call even if your iPhone was in a different room of your house.

The mute switch was great for awhile, but technology evolves.

Bring on the ACTION BUTTON! 🥳

 

[NARadyk]

It’s a welcome change in my eyes.

Mine was always on mute so it just sat there unused from the moment of purchase to the moment of reselling. At least now it can have a use to someone like me whilst still keeping the people happy that did previously use the button a lot.

 

[Marshall73]

They replaced a common point of failure, just like the switch to a solid state Touch ID button before it. This time they have made the change and added some additional functionality. Sounds like a good change for all and brings it in line with other apple devices.

 

[metman888]

When out in public I prefer to set it on the most annoying ring possible and crank the vol up to 200db so I can be sure to hear it over everything and everyone always.

remember this guy?

 

[Eggtastic]

They missed the opportunity to make it that burnt orange color like on the AWU. I get it would probably look silly on the blue 15 pro / pro max which is why they should have made a burnt orange iphone 15 instead of yet another "safe" blue.

 

[TechGod]

It’s interesting, I only know one person who does keep their phone on silent and he never answers the bloody thing so I told him to buy a calculator instead of a phone 😂

I think it helps that I have an Apple Watch but I gotta be honest, I have not had issues with getting in contact with people even if they use silent mode.

 

[Boeingfan]

I think it helps that I have an Apple Watch but I gotta be honest, I have not had issues with getting in contact with people even if they use silent mode.

It is interesting because when I put my phone on silent I set it so it doesn’t vibrate either. Silent with vibrate to me is kind of just a very low volume notification because the phone does make sound when it vibrates. I told my friend that I was going to fax Apple and tell them they can make another iPhone variant which doesn’t include speakers 😂

 

[Rychiar]

The more I think about it, the Action Button on the iPhone 15 Pro is going to make my life much harder -- specifically because it replaces the mute switch which is super important. By being a physical switch, you can just feel if you're on mute without taking your phone out of your pocket. This is something I do daily when in meetings and other scenarios where I don't want my phone to ring. With the Action Button, you have to press and hold but you don't know before if it's already on mute or not. Maybe you can feel with haptics -- don't know. But still you're going to have to press and hold just to find out and undo it if it was already mute.

They should have added the Action Button in addition to the mute switch. There's plenty of room.

(Also never liked the power button moving to the right side. I hit that way too often accidentally. Should be on the top like iPhone 1-5. Then you can stand it on it's side too).

Just keep it muted. I haven’t heard my phone make a sound in a decade now lol. A little pulse to the watch is most notification I’d ever want now

 

[LiemTa]

By being a physical switch, you can just feel if you're on mute without taking your phone out of your pocket.

Seems like every snowflake loves to bring up this point like they’re so deep and clever.

 

[sunking101]

I'm amazed by all the people in this thread who keep their phones on mute all the time. Vibrate is one of the first things I switch off when I get a new phone as I can't stand that buzzing noise! To me 'mute' is mute - no sound...and that means buzzing too.

I live in a flat and my downstairs neighbour keeps his phone on a windowsill. He has vibrate switched on for voice calls as well as messages and I could shove his phone where the sun don't shine! That buzzing noise is one of the most obnoxious sounds I hear on a daily basis...😤

 

[metman888]

I'm amazed by all the people in this thread who keep their phones on mute all the time. Vibrate is one of the first things I switch off when I get a new phone as I can't stand that buzzing noise! To me 'mute' is mute - no sound...and that means buzzing too.

I live in a flat and my downstairs neighbour keeps his phone on a windowsill. He has vibrate switched on for voice calls as well as messages and I could shove his phone where the sun don't shine! That buzzing noise is one of the most obnoxious sounds I hear on a daily basis...😤

mines on mute and no vibrate. As has already been said maybe the fact I’ve got an Apple Watch helps although it was the same before I got my ultra.

 

[toobravetosave]

I'm sure you'll get over it

 

[TechnoMonk]

My phone is always on mute, never toggled the switch. I like the ability to use the action button for camera or something I use frequently.

 

[TechnoMonk]

I'm amazed by all the people in this thread who keep their phones on mute all the time. Vibrate is one of the first things I switch off when I get a new phone as I can't stand that buzzing noise! To me 'mute' is mute - no sound...and that means buzzing too.

I live in a flat and my downstairs neighbour keeps his phone on a windowsill. He has vibrate switched on for voice calls as well as messages and I could shove his phone where the sun don't shine! That buzzing noise is one of the most obnoxious sounds I hear on a daily basis...😤

I use an Apple Watch, a click on the button mutes the vibration. Not very hard. Vibration doesn’t bother me, unless you put on a window or some material which makes it louder. Talk to your neighbor about it, may be more helpful, unless he is reading macrumors.

 

[lamerica80]

Hahahaha that is not substantiated in any way, I thought you may have had more than a personal opinion to base your broad comment on.

That was my personal opinon luv

 

[OneBar]

Use the screen accessibility widget, pull your phone out of your pocket, mute it, assign action button to something else. Problem solved. Not like you're going to get fired for respecting the meeting and if you are then you might want to look for different employment.

 

[Asiatic Black Hebrew]

Apple has removed features and functions, yes. To say that they do this for “no real reason” is absurd.

Of course they have a reason. You may not like it, however.

Please enlighten us on what the reasons were for removing Touch ID & the sim tray.

 

[sunking101]

I use an Apple Watch, a click on the button mutes the vibration. Not very hard. Vibration doesn’t bother me, unless you put on a window or some material which makes it louder. Talk to your neighbor about it, may be more helpful, unless he is reading macrumors.

Yeah I can see the smartwatch thing but I was assuming that others without watches had their phones on mute too.

My neighbour is a d*ck. I've talked to him before about his chainsmoking through an open window all summer but it fell on deaf ears. I doubt he will switch his phone off vibrate or lower the ringtone volume for my benefit. 😞

 

[ratspg]

I love and use the mute switch, but I'll use the action button instead, I don't care it's just a function. It's not something to get so sensitive about! Apple has tons of data on every button push, tap, settings tap, and how often all these are accessed. I'm sure mute switch usage is down a ton since focus modes introduction (I know it's not the same.) I wish they made the button the same color as the Apple Watch Ultra, that would have been nice! Pre-Orders tomorrow, let's go!!!!!

 

[TracerAnalog]

I’ve never used the mute switch, I am always on vibrate

… and Apple knows this. It is probably the least used button on iPhones. Personally I’ll use it as a rotation lock toggle.

 

[sarcasticgamer]

Can’t wait to use the action button!

 

[TracerAnalog]

Luckily Apple realised it was a mistake and since then they have abandoned the Butterfly keyboard, binned the Touch Bar and brought back the MagSafe. So you never know, the mute switch might return in 4-5 years

Nah. It might disappear altogether if people don’t use it, but a physically moving switch will never return.
Unless the EU demands it of course😜

 

[TracerAnalog]

Meh another cheap-feeling button that I won't want to use because it will get even more loose and wobbly over time...

Isn’t it a solid state button? As in: it doesn’t move?

 

[ignatius345]

The more I think about it, the Action Button on the iPhone 15 Pro is going to make my life much harder -- specifically because it replaces the mute switch which is super important. By being a physical switch, you can just feel if you're on mute without taking your phone out of your pocket. This is something I do daily when in meetings and other scenarios where I don't want my phone to ring. With the Action Button, you have to press and hold but you don't know before if it's already on mute or not. Maybe you can feel with haptics -- don't know. But still you're going to have to press and hold just to find out and undo it if it was already mute.

They should have added the Action Button in addition to the mute switch. There's plenty of room.

(Also never liked the power button moving to the right side. I hit that way too often accidentally. Should be on the top like iPhone 1-5. Then you can stand it on it's side too).

I agree. I think if you leave the Action Button in its default state (toggling mute) it'll probably give you similar functionality? But I myself also prefer a physical switch that you can tell the state visually or by touch.

BUT, if you reprogram the Action Button to do something else, you're stuck with these terrible solutions, according to Apple. Neither of these is anywhere near as direct and intuitive as a dedicated hardware switch.

 

[lat2801]

it's hard to please the boomers