What is the action button on iPhone 16? (And how to use it)

• The Action button replaces the mute switch on the iPhone 15 Pro and 16 models, serving as a customizable button for everyday tasks.

• It makes tasks like turning on silent, recording a voice memo, or recognizing music easier by taking much less time than it would take to do them manually.

• Users can create and map custom shortcuts to the action button, enabling creative uses beyond predefined tasks.

Over the years, iPhone owners got used to the mute switch, which turned silent mode on/off. With the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple replaced the switch with the customizable action button. Now the button is a feature on all iPhone models, so how does it work?

What is the action button?

The Action Button is a programmable button that can perform various tasks that would otherwise require a few taps and swipes. So you can set it to do anything from enabling Focus mode on your iPhone to recording a voice memo or recognizing music playing in the background.

Yes, you can do these tasks through Control Center or wherever they are on iPhone, but the purpose of the action button is to simplify the action by reducing the time it takes you to trigger them . Simply set the button to the task or action you want to perform and press it whenever you want.

In my opinion, the value of the action button lies in its ability to do virtually anything you set it to do, including switching between ring modes (which is what the mute switch did).

Which iPhones have an action button?

The Action Button is a relatively new addition to the iPhone. Currently, only six iPhone models feature the button, including the iPhone 15 Pro models and the four entrants in the new iPhone 16 line.

On models equipped with the button, it is located in place of the mute switch, just above the volume rockers on the left panel. Additionally, its texture is similar to the aluminum and titanium frames of the respective iPhones.

How to use the action button?

Using the action button is pretty simple: press and hold the button, and it will perform the assigned action. Note that you have to hold the action button for it to work, instead of sliding the mechanical mute switch on older iPhone models. While performing the set task, iOS provides haptic feedback.

By default, the action button toggles between ring/silent modes so you don’t miss the ring switch. However, there are more than a dozen possible ways to use the action button by customizing it. By changing the action it triggers, you can change how you use the action button and, eventually, how you use your iPhone.

How to customize the action button

On iPhones with an action button, you have a dedicated settings option that contains all the stock options (the ones offered by Apple). Out of the box, you can choose from a total of 12 different actions.

These include silent mode, focus modes, camera, flashlight, voice memo, music recognition, translation, magnifier, controls, shortcut, accessibility and no action. While the former are clear, the shortcuts and accessibility might need some explanation.

To see all available options, go to Settings > Action button. You will see all the actions listed, along with the name and the task they perform there.

If an action has more than one result, you will see a menu at the bottom to control them. For example, Focus lets you choose from different modes, including Work, Sleep, Personal, or other modes you may have created.

Accessibility options let you enable features like color filters, classic inversion, increased contrast, magnifier, VoiceOver, and other accessibility features built into iPhone.

What else can the action button do?

Although Apple’s predefined Action Button tasks are a bit boring, you can associate a custom shortcut with the programmable button and get a lot more utility out of it. On the Action Button menu, go to Shortcut > Choose Shortcut, and then select from the list of available options.

For some ideas, check out my favorite Action Button shortcuts. I’ve covered tasks like unlocking screen rotation, dictating a quick note to your iPhone, controlling smart home devices, or getting home, all with the press of a single button .

You can only set one action button shortcut at a time unless you know how to set up a condition shortcut that can do two different things. To do this, download Jordan Zeleny’s Double Tap Action shortcut, add it to the Shortcuts Library, and customize it to do what you want.

By default, the shortcut lets you open the camera with one tap, but with two taps you can open the video camera. If desired, change the action of the shortcut by editing it and replacing the “Photo in Camera” and “Video in Camera” actions with others. Once done, map the shortcut to the action button and you are good to go.

Do more with a menu of action buttons

If you want to do more with the action button, you can create a context menu and bind it to the button. Although you can download the shortcut here, you will still need help setting it up and changing the menu to your preferences. First, grab the shortcut and add it to your shortcut library.

Next, open the Shortcuts app, tap the three dots at the top right of the shortcut and start editing it. The creator of this shortcut, Stephen Robles, designed it to call up the menu only if there is no Focus mode active. The menu includes various options including mute toggle, rotation lock, camera, podcasts, home automation setup, opening a particular app, or opening the Shortcuts app.

Essentially, this Action Button menu contains most of the options provided in the default settings section, making it much more useful. If you don’t like such an elaborate menu, you can create your own by creating a shortcut and adding the “Choose from menu”. Then you can organize the menu and add related actions to it.

I created a slightly simpler action button menu, which opens the Uber app, activates low power mode and returns to your home (provided you have entered a home address).

---

Not sure which iPhones have action buttons? Check out our comparison of iPhone 16 vs iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro vs iPhone 15 Pro, or iPhone 16 vs iPhone 16 Pro.