Apple's Latest Ad Highlights iPhone 16's New Camera Control Button

[MacRumors]

Apple today shared a video ad that highlights the new Camera Control on the latest iPhone 16 models, offering a quick look at the button in action.

While the ad is for the iPhone 16 Pro, the Camera Control is available on all four iPhone 16 models. The button provides quick access to the iPhone's camera, and you can press or swipe on it to adjust functions like zoom, depth of field, and more. In addition, an iOS 18 software update coming later this year will enable the Camera Control to automatically lock focus and exposure on a subject with a light press.

All four iPhone 16 models launched in the U.S. and many other countries on September 20.

Article Link: Apple's Latest Ad Highlights iPhone 16's New Camera Control Button

 

[Kylo83]

apple says it makes things easier, are they having a laugh everything is harder and slower. If this is what apple think now I am worried for the future of apple.
everything is easier using the on screen display like before, and the button is to hard causes phone shake. Apple have lost the plot

 

[coffeemilktea]

Taking pictures of mountain climbers and wild horses on the plains looks so majestic...

..I'd just use mine to take pictures of stray cats and maybe the street tacos I had for lunch. 🌮

 

[DBZmusicboy01]

I would had bought the iPhone 16 Pro if it had 8K video recording.

 

[NJRonbo]

Most unnecessary feature ever added to an iPhone

"Another year we have nothing new to add to our iPhone. I know, let's add another button"

 

[iMattPro]

I hate this button:
1. It is so difficult to use (the swiping, double light tapping, etc)
2. It makes taking a photo take way too long
3. The cut-outs in the cases trick me into always thinking thats the top left of the phone, rather than the bottom right
4. Out of the box, it's just yet another (5th) way to open the camera app.
5. Nobody asked for it. Nobody needs it. Nobody likes it.

I was a fan of the Macbook Touchbar, but now I understand the hate the touchbar got with the way this stupid button pisses me off.

 

[ChedNasad]

It was a bummer to try this and realize it's way too clumsy to actually use. The buttons on the touch screen are much more accessible and quick. Very few circumstances where I would use this and it tends to also get in the way of using the button just to take a photo. Very easy to accidentally toggle settings when you dont intend to. I did find you can within accessibility actually disable everything other than using it to launch the camera and take a photo.

Holding to start video also kinda sucks. You have to keep holding for as long as you want to record. It should just continue until you click the button again.

 

[RacMumors-]

Saw the picture for this article and thought Apple hadn't learnt from the last ad and made a horse crushing video this time 😭

 

[ChedNasad]

I hate this button:
1. It is so difficult to use (the swiping, double light tapping, etc)
2. It makes taking a photo take way too long
3. The cut-outs in the cases trick me into always thinking thats the top left of the phone, rather than the bottom right
4. Out of the box, it's just yet another (5th) way to open the camera app.
5. Nobody asked for it. Nobody needs it. Nobody likes it.

I was a fan of the Macbook Touchbar, but now I understand the hate the touchbar got with the way this stupid button pisses me off.

Touch bar was amazing but they really needed to have both it and a row of function keys. If they had done that I dont think it would have received any hate.

 

[KillerScoregasm]

Maybe they should have moved the button down half an inch. Then I would use it maybe a little more.

 

[Onelifenofear]

apple says it makes things easier, are they having a laugh everything is harder and slower. If this is what apple think now I am worried for the future of apple.
everything is easier using the on screen display like before, and the button is to hard causes phone shake. Apple have lost the plot

I hate this button:
1. It is so difficult to use (the swiping, double light tapping, etc)
2. It makes taking a photo take way too long
3. The cut-outs in the cases trick me into always thinking thats the top left of the phone, rather than the bottom right
4. Out of the box, it's just yet another (5th) way to open the camera app.
5. Nobody asked for it. Nobody needs it. Nobody likes it.

I was a fan of the Macbook Touchbar, but now I understand the hate the touchbar got with the way this stupid button pisses me off.

1. I got used to it in about 10 mins... Really quick now. It's like anything, Muscle memory and use.
2. press once... then press again. Or long press for video.
3. That's more of a "you" thing
4. It's the quickest way.
5. True. I need it. I like it.

 

[Return Zero]

I wanted to give this an honest chance. When I got my 16 Pro I quickly realized it was much easier to use this "upside down" with my left thumb than with my right index/middle finger. Then I quickly realized it was much easier to use it only as a shutter and deactivate the light presses. Then I quickly realized it was much easier to use it only as a launcher and use the onscreen shutter instead. Then I quickly realized I was accidentally launching the camera too often and switched to a double press for launch. Then I quickly realized a double press of this button was no better than, and in some cases worse than, other ways of launching the camera. Then I quickly realized this was even worse than the Touch Bar and maybe the biggest flop of an iPhone feature ever. Even 3D Touch was better than this. It's really bad and I don't know how Apple thought this was a good idea to not only release, but make it sound like a panacea for iPhone photographers. It's really that bad, and I was wishing to prove the haters wrong, but I just couldn't.

edit: the best thing I can say about it is they allow you to tailor as much use as you want into it, or completely turn it off... in that sense it's fine they released it as an option for those who like it, and I just hope they make it more useful down the road through software.

 

[Kottu]

Why couldn’t they use power button to do all these features and add touch ID? Position isn’t optimal either.

 

[ghostface147]

On screen controls are better and faster overall.

 

[dba415]

This is such a gimmick.

 

[Electroni]

Now Apple is adding clumsy features to its products only for the sake of being able to claim it changed something but without actually making the product better or more useful. If anything, it’s worse as it makes case designs more complicated. This certainly goes against the founder’s vision of making things simpler rather than unnecessarily over-complicated. It’s just sad, really.

 

[antiprotest]

Actor: Ah, director? I can't get this stupid button to work.

Director: Nobody can. Don't worry about it. We will just do a bunch of shots of your finger sliding back and forth on it and production will just replace the phone screen with a video anyway. It will look like your finger is doing all the work.

Actor: By the time the users find out they can't make it work like the video it'll no longer be our problem.

Director: Exactly.

 

[kiensoy]

Steve Jobs said it during the reveal of the first iPhone... you have that beautiful big touchscreen for any type of controls you need, then they go and add this button with a little island of tiny controls crammed in it.

 

[Attirex]

The development of this button prob kept 16,000 Apple employees employed…so there’s that.

 

[Markgnyc2]

Here is the thing...you don't HAVE to use the button to use the camera or any of its controls. You can still use the touchscreen as you always have.

However, you can choose to learn how to use the camera control and it may very well give you a more camera like experience for those who like using buttons to control their camera. Is it perfect? Of course not. But I think its a start and I dont think we have seen everything Apple has in mind yet.

 

[klasma]

Here is the thing...you don't HAVE to use the button to use the camera or any of its controls. You can still use the touchscreen as you always have.

But you have to live with the fact that third-party cases now have a large cutout there.

 

[Cloudyskies22]

This button is right there with Dynamic Island and Peek and Pop all competing for the most useless features ever added to iPhones.

The first thing you do is go to Settings > Accessibility > Camera Control > Toggle OFF ‘Show Adjustments’.

You know what’s really embarrassing about the button? If you press it with the screen off it doesn’t instantly open the camera. LMAO. God damn they’re stupid. That’s like one of the only ways in which it would be slightly useful and instead it just turns on the display to the Lock Screen like any other waking of the device.

Eventually it will just be the AI button which will be fine though. Hopefully we will just be able to switch everything to ChatGPT and forget Siri ever existed

 

[boak]

I suspect Apple will eventually find out based on usage statistics that it's way less frequently used than they anticipated. Its future is the same as 3D Touch and the Touch Bar. Very niche user base and will eventually go.

 

[Cloudyskies22]

But you have to live with the fact that third-party cases now have a large cutout there.

I don’t use cases on my phone but I’d love to make a case called the ‘Gimmick Cover Case’ which simply has no cutout and disregards its existence lol

 

[rotvaldi]

Maybe they should have moved the button down half an inch. Then I would use it maybe a little more.

Those weirdos engineers just exchanged the plastic cover of mmWave 5G to the new button without thinking about the place is too wrong positioned