The iPhone’s action button is now a staple feature in Apple’s smartphone lineup. In its default state, it does exactly what the replaced ring switch does: toggles silent mode on and off.
But there’s a lot you can do with this control, especially if your iPhone is permanently in silent mode. I recently upgraded my iPhone, and here are some of my favorite uses I’ve gotten myself into.
Set the action button
The Action button is a feature of the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16 and later, and appears on the left edge of the device if you’re holding your iPhone in portrait mode. It takes up the space reserved for the ring button, except it’s no longer a switch but a regular button. To use it, press and hold to perform the desired action.
On supported models, you’ll be able to change the action performed under Settings > Action button. If you decide to ditch the silent mode toggle functionality, you’ll find a control for this under Control Center (which you can access by swiping down from the top-right corner of the screen).
You can also turn the button off completely using this menu, but why do that when there are so many useful things you can do instead?
1
flashlight
You can bind the action button to your flashlight in the settings menu, and that’s one of the first things I did when I upgraded to the iPhone 17 Pro. You don’t need to unlock your iPhone for this to work; You can simply press and hold the button.
If you go this route, you can choose to replace the flashlight button that appears on your iPhone’s lock screen with something else (or remove it entirely for a clean look). Remember that once it’s turned on, you can tap the flashlight icon on the iPhone’s Dynamic Island to adjust the intensity and angle of the beam (pro models).
2
Shazam
Another incredibly useful option that Apple has included in the action button menu is the ability to select which song is currently playing. This runs entirely in the background, as indicated by a small icon that appears in the Dynamic Island at the top of the screen. And you can use it without interrupting what you’re doing or unlocking your device.
The song will automatically be added to your Shazam app once it’s recognized, with a notification at the top of the screen and a quick link to Apple Music. Although I’ve used the Apple Watch for Shazam purposes in the past, if I’m going out at night and expect to hear music that I’ll want to save for later, I’ll set my action button to Shazam for ease of use.
3
Smart home control
I recently built my smart home the way I’ve been meaning to for a while. Although I use Home Assistant as the backbone of the system, most of my daily interactions with my smart home use the Apple Home interface. Apple’s smart home platform integrates neatly with the Home Assistant setup and provides a more pleasant interface.
I’ve found that you can quickly access the Home app via the action button using a few different methods. The easiest is to bind the action button to Control and then choose the Home control. Keep in mind that you need to unlock your device to access the app.
You can also bind the Scene or Accessory control to your action button in this menu. This is ideal for powering a specific accessory, such as a garage door or alarm system. I created a timer alarm in Home Assistant and displayed it as a switch, meaning I could use the Scene or Accessory control to arm or disable it.
4
Run the shortcut
Choose Shortcut from the Action Button menu to launch any of your iPhone workflow tasks by simply pressing and holding the button. For starters, Shortcuts lets you create a workflow using visual blocks of code that perform all kinds of actions on your iPhone.
For example, you might have a shortcut that you use to record something within the Apple Health app like a measurement or water intake. Choose Shortcut from the action button menu, and then set the desired workflow. You can run the shortcut from anywhere, whatever you’re doing (in this case, you’ll see a pop-up window to enter your measurement).
Applying shortcuts is key to unlocking a great deal of potential for the action button (as we’ll discover later).
5
Open literally any app
You can pin apps to your dock, place them on your home screen, and even ask Siri to open them. But you may have one or two apps that are so mission-critical that you want to associate a physical button with them. Fortunately, by creating a new workflow in Shortcuts with the Open App action, you can do just that.
In fact, for some applications, you can go even further. For example, ChatGPT lets you go straight to a voice query, as Amazon’s Alexa does. Google lets you start voice search or go directly to Google Lens. You can do this through app-specific actions in the Shortcuts app for a wide range of apps.
6
Get directions to the house
Speaking of app-specific actions, use the Open Directions action in Shortcuts to quickly plan your way home. You can select your mode of transportation and use your current location, then choose your home address or tell Maps to “Ask every time” if you want a more general route plan. You can also choose which app to use, so you can use this shortcut to guide you home via Google Maps.
Once you have your workflow designed, associate an action button to it using a menu.
7
Control music playback
A physical play button is something most of us gave up on when we moved from dedicated MP3 players to smartphones, but its usefulness can’t be denied. Not having to take your media player out of your pocket to pause or skip what’s playing seems like a wasted convenience, especially if your headphones don’t support this feature.
Oddly enough, Apple doesn’t list this as a hidden option, and there’s no “Control” entry for it. To use it, you’ll need to create a new workflow in Shortcuts with a Play/Pause or Skip Forward action and then save it. From here, choose “Shortcut” and then select the new shortcut. This works without having to unlock your iPhone.
8
Monitor important health data
We’ve previously looked at how wearables and health technology can help you stay on top of conditions like diabetes. The great thing is that these devices automatically record health samples, so you can browse them at your leisure. Some health conditions require close monitoring, which is why you can create a workflow to fetch a specific sample when you press the action button.
To do this, I used the Find Healthy Sample action in Shortcuts. If you have a blood glucose meter, you can bring that sample, but I chose “Blood Oxygen” for the proof of concept since my Apple Watch records that fairly frequently. From here I set the Start Date to be within the latest day, sorted by Start Date, and then made sure to set the Order to Newest first. Finally, I used the “Limit” toggle to limit this to the last “1” sample.
Finally, drop the “Show Notifications” box there and customize the alert to your liking. Bind the action button to the shortcut in the usual menu, and you’re done. This requires your device to be unlocked for obvious reasons.
9
Enable and disable routing lock
I live my life with my iPhone pointed in portrait mode. As a result, I sometimes forget that using my iPhone in landscape mode is an option. Using the action button to quickly toggle this setting without messing around in Control Center is a huge game changer.
This is especially true if you always use a specific app or website that takes great advantage of landscape mode. Since Apple didn’t include a “control” for this purpose, it’s up to the Shortcuts app to create and save a shortcut containing the Toggle Lock Orientation action. Now choose “Shortcut” and select your workflow from the action button menu.
10
Switch VPN
Not all websites or services work well with VPNs. I’ve had trouble getting SharePlay working in the car when my VPN is enabled in the past, and disabling it requires unlocking the phone, finding the app, and tapping the connect button. Fortunately, there is an easier way.
I currently use ExpressVPN, which uses a “control” called “Speed Connect” which I can assign to my action button. DuckDuckGo VPN has a similar option.
If your VPN does not support this type of control, there is another way you can do it. Return to the Shortcuts app and create a new workflow using the “Set VPN” action. Change “Connection” to “Switch” and click on the “VPN” variant to select your preferred protocol. Now save the workflow and go back to the Action Button menu, select Shortcuts and choose the shortcut you just created.
You’ll see the “VPN” icon appear and then disappear in the upper-right corner of your iPhone’s screen when connected.