I Finally Tried the iPhone Action Button – and I Didn't Get It

There’s something amazing about switching to a new phone, and nothing more shocking than when you find a feature you don’t like.

That’s what happened to me when I recently upgraded my iPhone 14 Pro Max to an iPhone 15 Pro Max. Yes, I know, I’m very late to the party – my “new” phone has given way to the iPhone 16 Pro Max in Apple’s lineup – but I wanted to wait until we had more information about Apple Intelligence features and when we could expect to see them.

Anyway, better late than never, right? And for the most part, I’m happy with the upgrade to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but there’s one thing I really don’t understand – the Action button on that phone. (And it’s now on all current iPhone flagships, starting with the launch of the iPhone 16.)

I can see that there’s a lot to love about the Action button, but I have serious issues with how it’s implemented, especially when it comes to a primary function.

The Action button should never be silent

25 ways to use the Action button on an iPhone 15 Pro

(Image credit: Future)

If you’re not familiar with this hardware addition from Apple, let me give you a basic explanation. The Action button replaces the small switch used to put your iPhone into silent mode. This is still a task for the Action button, but it’s not all it can do.

In addition to silencing your phone, you can configure the Action button to perform several functions; from turning on the flashlight to focusing the camera. Even better, the iOS 18 update brought big action button improvements that open up the button for third-party camera apps. So I agree that the idea behind the Action button is smart – I just wish it could do more than one thing at once.

At least it’s easy to configure the Action button: just go into the settings and use the very stylish menu. But again, if you want the Action button to trigger more than one shortcut, you’ll need to go back and reset it.

Let’s say I want to quickly set the Action button to turn on my flashlight instead of leaving my phone on silent. To do this, I need to go into Settings and set it to operate the flashlight. But if I want the Action button to do anything else — including silence my phone — I need to go back and reset things. And that’s annoying, since silent mode is easily my most used feature on the device.

At least for me, this raises another question: what does the Action button do that the on-screen options don’t already do?

After all, I can easily turn off my phone’s flashlight on the lock screen if I want it to be an on-screen control. What difference would it make to assign this task to a button, especially if I needed to change the settings to do something else with the Action button.

Why do I need an app to fix this?

iPhone 15 Pro Max shown in hands

(Image credit: Guia do Tom)

There is a solution to my dilemma, but it is not very simple. You can download the free Actions app from the App Store; lets you change what the action button does depending on the phone’s orientation. In my experience, the app is difficult to get used to – so much so that the average user may get discouraged when trying. More specifically, it seems like a problem that Apple should solve without any intervention from third-party apps.

That said, I confess that I found the Action button useful when used with some applications. I can certainly see the benefit of a dedicated button having different uses in games, the camera app, or elsewhere. I just don’t think the Action button really serves its purpose on the home screen in the same way.

I hope future updates bring more functionality to the Action button. I don’t want to have to fiddle with another app when I should be able to set it and forget it in the Settings app. I’d also like to see next year’s iPhone 17 bring back a dedicated silent mode button. Until then, I’ll have to resort to a workaround introduced by iOS 18 and change the lock screen controls to swap an on-screen shortcut to silence my phone. This is great when I’m on the lock screen, but a dedicated button lets me mute the phone no matter what I’m doing.

If you happen to love the Action button, let me know! Or if you just got an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16 series phone, you can check out our guides on how to make the most of the action button.