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How to Get the Most Out of the iPhone 15 Pro's Action Button
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It worked! Thank you!! I’ve been wanting this for so long and had no idea it was an option 😆
Several ways I’ve been through:
- Create files in iCloud with specific names to act act as flags. For example isConnectedToCarBT, isConnectedToHomeWiFi. Create and delete these files in shortcuts/automations as required. Checks for these files in other shortcuts
- Create a single file and change the content based on an automation. So a file called isConnectedToCarBT either contains True or False, with this value being set by an automation. Check the contents of this file in other shortcuts.
- Use the excellent Data Jar app to persist the data to iCloud, as shown in the attached screenshots. The shortcut is an automation fired on sunrise:
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I have dozens of pics I've accidentally taken while putting my phone in my back pocket. It's really easy to hover over the button while doing that. There should be the ability to make it a real button as opposed to the haptic button it is now.
Thank you for the reply...still very confusing and maybe why I went from design to coding and back to design....
is something like this faster than just checking if it is after Sunrise...or if connected to car Bluetooth? I suppose to get an automation to check if after Sunrise you'd need to check weather conditions at current location, then get the data from there. but then wouldn't the iCloud File also need to do that and theoretically at a similar time the automation is run...cant check the sunrise status at 3am each morning while nothing is being done as it wont have any relation when you'd want that info later?
****and I am pretty much a buffoon with shortcuts/automations. I am currently struggling to have a light turn on at sunset UNLESS it is less set between 1-10% brightness (movie setting) and no matter what it keeps turning on.
Sunrise is a pain because it’s always before sunrise…. the next sunrise, be it the one that’s going to happen the same day, or the next day. You then have to check the date and match that. But then if you’re interested in “if it’s dark” or not then 23:59 and 00:01 are on different dates but still dark. Just setting a flag in Automations when it’s sunrise and sunset is much easier IMO.
Same for after sunrise … it’s never after sunrise because as soon as sunrise happens, sunrise ticks over to the next one, so you’re never after it
With Bluetooth, all you can do is turn Bluetooth on and off… you cannot determine what device or devices you’re connected to. That’s why I have an automation that triggers when I connect to my car Bluetooth, and sets the flag.
Does that make sense?
It’s just a button, wtf? What’s different from the other buttons???
I just took your advice and created a menu based Action Button shortcut. I think that’s the best option, but not just to recreate functions from the Control Centre, rather shortcuts that are not easy to get to, like my Nighttime Relaxation shortcut and my Time the Bath shortcut. It’s a great time saver. I’m also going to create a bunch of shortcuts for controlling smart devices I use a lot, like certain lights, or sets of lights, or the fountain, or radiators. Yessss gooooddd, this will work well
This is a well-researched and well known problem with Lithium ion batteries. Keeping a Lithium Cobalt Battery at 100% charge depletes the longevity over time, increases the chance of dendrite formation (which can short the battery) and battery expansion or 'pillowing'.
It was explained to me by a guy that designs EV battery chargers as creating uneven 'pressure' (for lack of a better term between the graphite and lithium layers which speeds the degradation of the internal structures.
Capping the charge at 80% increases the longevity, which is why Apple introduced the optimized charging, and the hard 80% limit. I just want a little bit easier manual control over it because my schedule is irregular enough that optimized charging only offers benefit for charging at night.
Mostly I want to cap charging to 80% when I've got my phone plugged into my laptop to transfer data, when I'm driving long distances, or on a long-haul flight. Outside of those 3 instances, i don't really care.
My gripe is that it is a function in settings, so it should be available as a shortcut. It isn't.
Just curious…
Why 80%?
Why not 90 or 95? Or the ability set it to stop itself from further charging at 99%? (Permanently… never 100%, if you wanted…)
I’ve read that 80% is when you’ve perhaps plugged it in, went to bed, and it was already at 80% an hour after you’ve been asleep.
Then, before you wake up (based on Machine Learning), it finishes the remaining 20%.
Do I have that about right?
That is how optimised charging works. Stays at 80% until just before you wake up (based on your alarm time etc)
80% seems to be the best trade off for holding a charge without putting too much stress on the battery. I was told the ideal charge is 50% because the charge is balanced between the graphite and lithium parts of the battery.
But given that we know 100% for extended periods increases degradation, and apple have a software hard limit at 80% which the user can control, I want to be able to make that a shortcut and use my action button exclusively for that purpose.
Definitely overkill, and all those images and videos are there taking space for that… I thought it was going to be only once at first setup, then just be a normal settings screen with toggles and dropdown options lists later on when accessed from settings.
I don’t know the details, but if it is brute forced with a series videos, that means:
- Every new option or setting changes for the action button would need the whole thing revamped with a new glow color, new icon, etc animation
- When the iPhone 16 (and Pro) comes out, iOS 18 will need to have all those videos (or however it’s done) duplicated for each iPhone model that comes with a customizable action button in the future (unless they don’t care, but knowing Apple, they pay attention to these types of form over function)
Haha you missed the sarcasm in my post
But to your question, just about all buttons on any device usually have a pre-defined action or actions.
Apple's action button gives the user a hardware button he can program to trigger whatever action he wants. That can potentially be quite powerful, but time will tell what the uptake of this is with users.
I added nested ‘Choose from Menu’ shortcut actions, so I could get quick access to all my most used shortcuts, and create remote controls for my fan and diffuser. It’s a game changer for me (I use a lot of shortcuts)!! Any suggestions for improving the UI?
I wrote a shortcut to turn on the flashlight if it is dark, or open the camera if it is light.
It makes sense for my needs since if it's light out I don't need the flashlight and if it is dark I don't generally take pictures. There are exceptions of course.
The shortcut checks to see if the current time is between sunrise and sunset, and if YES, open camera, otherwise open flashlight.
It may break during twilight, dusk, dawn but I could not figure out a way to read the phone's light sensor and this generally works.
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IMO a shortcut for a few options is almost meaningless for a quicker response.
if i need the camera it's quicker to press the lockscreen button than using the action+shortcut menu.
only when they make it more efficient with 2-click option and long press, it will have any real effect.
as a camera guy the quickest option is still setting it as camera while all the rest are less response dependent.
if i need the camera it's quicker to press the lockscreen button than using the action+shortcut menu.
only when they make it more efficient with 2-click option and long press, it will have any real effect.
as a camera guy the quickest option is still setting it as camera while all the rest are less response dependent.
I do find the action button useful and quicker when the phone is open and I have multiple screens to swipe through to get to the camera icon, or have to swipe down from the top to get the camera icon. YMMV.
ok that's the same point as mine as to have it only on camera without all these shortcut solutions