All iPhone 16 Models to Feature Action Button, But Usefulness Debated

[Reeneman]

You know if you press it, it may reward you with a 50 dollar itunes voucher.

Just saying 😀

Haha nice try!

 

[tylersdad]

I have it disabled. I find myself accidentally engaging it all the time when I pull my phone out of my pocket. Completely useless for me.

 

[idasein]

I use the action button to turn orientation lock on and off. Apple didn't include that in the default options for some reason, but it works through Shortcuts. It seemed like a waste of a button, but I found I wasn't using it when I had it set to activate the camera. And now with orientation lock, I use it all the time, whenever I'm watching a video and want to expand it. This way, I don't have to interrupt the video by opening control center. I just turn my phone sideways and hold down the shortcut button. If you find you're not using the button at all, it's worth a try.

 

[the_magikpants]

I'm amazed more people aren't mentioning triggering shortcuts based on orientation of the phone. I love the action button. If I have my phone in portrait, it triggers the flashlight. If in Landscape, the camera. If it's faceup, it launches the Apple TV Remote, and if it's face down, it launches shazam. yeah you can do each of those things from control center, but it takes a bunch of clicks to make all of that happen.

 

[amartinez1660]

Could it have been related to production and adoption test of haptic buttons?
I got a case so I don’t really know fully but the button seems to not compress much at all when pressed and it definitely almost doesn’t sound compared to the volume ones which do have that clickety sound right away.
Also the action button do trigger haptics, although it is the phone’s haptic not the button itself… but can see how it could trigger any needed haptic available in the future

 

[Victor Mortimer]

DO NOT WANT.

Needs a ring/silent switch, NOT a button.

 

[G5isAlive]

It's just a button, hard to call it a 'game changer.' A game changer would be twice the battery life, or twice the storage for half the cost. But I do find it useful and use it all the time.

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

Imho the action button needs to take a cue from the Apple Watch Ultra and be context sensitive, allowing app developers to create bespoke actions for it

It dhould still be overridden if the user wishes to do so, but “perform app action” should be the default function