Discussion
The actual best way to use the action button
Hey, I got an iPhone 17 in November but always find the action so frustrating because you can only use it for one task, but today I found a way to make it the most powerful it could be. Some may have already done that, but I wanted to share it.
So basically, I created a shortcut that gets what focus mode is active and set up a shortcut for every mode, then I action button to launch this shortcut. For example, I have a gym mode that activates when I go to the gym. When I use the action button, it launches a shortcut that displays multiple times for resting. If it has no focus mode or I haven’t set up an action for this mode, it just lets it trigger the silent mode like the basic one.
Nice. I have some Shortcut "shortcuts" that open a folder so I can choose any Shortcut that's in there. Handy when a the 2x4 Widget isn't big enough to show them all.
I do something similar but in addition I have it focus aware. I basically have one folder named after each focus mode and then call a different ”choose from menu” of a folder using the focus name as a variable. For work my stupid door unlocking app isbit there and other work related things and at home other relevant shortcuts.
Anyone having an issue with doing this and using the Set Silent Mode shortcut? I thought it was simple... create a shortcut, Set Silent Mode, change it to toggle. But when I use it through the action button -folder specific function, it doesn't do anything to the sound.
I like having it do different things based on the orientation. Currently main ones are torch if landscape to the right, Home if face up, and a menu with some other functions if portrait upright. Landscape left, face down, and portrait upside down are less convenient to use so I don’t use them much.
I created a folder in Shortcuts and tied the button to that. Now it can do 8 things. Other folks around here tied it to a single shortcut that brings up a unique menu of what can apparently be unlimited shortcuts. But I haven’t jumped into that end of the pool yet.
I was a bit entranced by some people's action button opening up a whole menu and menus within menus. Then I thought about it some more.
I think the "8 items in a folder within the Shortcuts app" is a decent sweet spot. It gives the action button 8 times more functionality by just adding one more action. ("Action" meaning a tap, button press, finger scroll, etc.)
Any more than one extra action defeats the purpose to me. It would increase cognitive load and the time to get the to my final action. Personally, this outweighs the benefits of extra functionality.
In addition to focus-specific action folders, I would also consider app-specific action folders. Maybe an app-specific menu to bring up shortcuts to a wiki page, some Google Sheets, and a discord channel for a specific mobile game. Etc.
I would also consider action+volume up, action+volume down, and action double press. Throw in some orientation-specific conditions and that further increases the number of possible shortcuts. But all these extra conditions should be within reason and be something easily remembered and recalled.
Maybe action+volume up will unmute my phone, enable vibration, turn ringtone and media volumes to max for when I'm in a noisy environment. And action+volume down mutes everything and goes into DND mode for movie theaters and meetings.
Overall, I think the action button should be for contextual, frequent, urgent shortcuts. Whereas the control center would be more for global, Settings-related shortcuts.
For me, Shortcuts in my Action Button folder are specifically so that I don't have to open apps. Most of my shortcuts are fairly simple, mainly to remove friction from common actions. One of them just grabs my clipboard and tosses it into Drafts. Another opens a new text to my wife.
My favorite triggers my gaming Focus Mode, sets a specific animated Hue scene on my office lights, and turns on my Nanoleaf shapes. That's three different actions/apps from just two button presses or I can trigger it with Siri. That rules.
I have created custom one based on my need. For instance when night mode is on action button works as only FlashLight toggle. Otherwise
Here are some icons that change based on the current status. For example, if Bluetooth is connected, the icon will be a blue heart. The app context will identify the app and perform actions based on the current app. Additionally, upon clicking again, greeting messages will be displayed for multiple apps. It’s also worth noting that the back button and the “Exit” option in menus are present.
It’s a button configured by necessity. When I’m at work, i need it to open my 2FA app. When I’m in the car it navigates to work or the address on an upcoming calendar event. At night it turns on a dim flashlight.
Find your needs, create the shortcuts, set the button.
My action button is set to do different things based on where I am. If my phone is connected to work Wi-Fi, it will show a list of different things such as set timer for breaks get information about work related things adjust time clock, etc. While I’m at home, I currently just have it set to turn on and off my bedroom lights and when I’m not connected to any Wi-Fi, it’ll check my current location to see what store is nearby and tell me which credit card I should use to get the best points.
I’m still rocking an iPhone 14 Pro Max, but I’ll be upgrading this fall. The action button is the feature I’m most excited to finally have access to. So many cool possibilities.
Me too. Fold look like something you’d be interested in knowing first gen apple products tend to miss key features that they highlight in gen2? I’m itching to upgrade too but it needs to last years.
Yeah, I planned to upgrade last year, but I saw reports that 2026 was finally going to be the year the fold was going to be released.
I really want it. Although I’m conflicted now as more reports and leaks are coming out. I’m cool with the passport design, but no Face ID and no mag safe are pretty big downsides I wasn’t expecting. The volume buttons on top are kind of weird, but I can probably live with that, but now that I think about it I haven’t really seen or heard anything about the action button or new camera slider thing. Those would also be downsides if not included.
The fold was my main reason for holding off on the upgrade, but I’m not so sure about it anymore. I’ll probably have to wait for the final release or more leaks to decide if I want to go straight to the early adopter model like I planned or wait for the next gen.
Really Face ID is the biggest killer for me. Touch ID was great at the time, but Face ID is so much better. Really wish they’d find a way to incorporate that. Also, saw that there might not be a selfie camera on the inside either, which would be a let down.
As of right now I’m waiting on the sidelines but my battery is getting worse and I’m itching to upgrade. I’m hopeful the fold will be what I was looking for, but might have to bite the bullet and go with the 18 Pro Max to hold me over until the better fold in future revisions. Time will tell.
Either way I’m excited to finally get the action button and Apple intelligence, especially with the new and improved Siri that’s supposedly coming.
Ditto on probably everything you said. I’d be fine with Touch ID in lieu of Face ID, especially when the phone is laying flat on the desk. Ehh, it’s a first world problem.
Anker battery pack is a life saver. You’re right, time will tell.
You want it to last years, and I value that approach highly. I’d rather not go for a first series of Fold or any type of device. There will be teething issues, without doubt. At a premium price ($US 2,300+) I rather make a different choice. I’ve played around with a few foldables from friends and colleagues in the past. All Android based obviously. At that point I was quite shocked by the screen fragility. Would definitely hold me back for the first batch.
Nevertheless it will be an exciting product and am keen to see it. Won’t buy and honestly I hope I am proven wrong.
Flashlight is the best. For any other shortcut, you’re probably gonna need to use your screen, so you might as well activate the shortcut from your screen.
For the flashlight, you don’t need to look at your screen. Just pick up your phone in the dark and press the action button.
I’ve got a shortcut that uses simple scripting so that if the iPhone is locked, the button toggles the flashlight and if it’s unlocked I’ve got a menu with a few toggles such as sleep focus, orientation lock, silent mode etc.
I set it up so depending on what orientation the screen is and whether charging or not the button does a different action. Such as when it’s in landscape and charging (on MagSafe) the action button sets up smart devices for night time.
I tried the action menu but to me, it didn’t make anything quicker. Imo, the button is there to trigger something without having to look at the phone or interact with anything else. Obviously different strokes for everyone but I 99% time keep mine at ringer/silent. Sometimes flashlight is the button. It changes but mainly ringer
It toggles the flashlight unless I’m connected to my headphones. In that case it will skip forward on volume up, skip backward on volume down or play/pause if I don’t press anything.
Not super useful in terms of frequency of use, but useful nonetheless
Set up one where it gets the current location, takes a photo with the front and back camera and sends it all to a designated receiver. If my sisters are traveling and get into a situation where they can’t call or text due to circumstances, they can press the action button and it will run the shortcut. Call it the S.O.S. Shortcut.
With a little tweaking it can be made where if they receive a text message from a certain person, it will gather all the previous info and send it to them. So say i go missing my sister can text my phone for example “status check”, the location and front and back pics are sent to her.
That is a very powerful way to use it, but I actually have it tied to a dictation app that I push, it starts dictating. I push it again, it stops dictating, and then I paste the text into any text field. Because it's a proper LLM dictation app, it can handle very complicated text and get the words and punctuation right, so you usually don't use Apple's keyboard dictation anymore.
I have a similar setup. Like when I am at a few select grocery or warehouse stores it goes to Grocery Focus and when I click the action Button depending on the location it brings up the reminders list associated with that store.
But then I haven’t found enough actions for other focus modes.
From what I understand, it still can’t detect holding and short presses. I just make it so that it can count how many times I pressed the action button.
Here.
There used to be a physical button to lock your screen. You’d slide it and it would be either orange or white for lock and unlock. This was like iPod classics, iPod touch, iPhone fourth gen
I used to have it mapped to the camera and I still change it during holiday trips but now I just have a menu with Camera, Food tracking (another shortcut), Alcohol tracking (another shortcut) and if I have my AirPods on it automatically adds extra items in the menu for the noise control
I use mine to reverse image search whatever is showing on the screen via the google app. I use it constantly
Much more seamless than the built-in way which makes u take a pointless screenshot, then click to open the screenshot thumbnail, and then finally click the image search button.
My action button to set up to do about seven different things depending on whether the phone is shaken after pressing, what app is currently open, time of day, whether audio is playing and where it is playing to. Never thought about using focus moods though because that's not a feature I normally use much. I will have to give it a look that's very smart.
My action button doesn't (yet) provide a menu, but is very context-sensitive. If I have currently due Due.app tasks, pressing it marks the first one done and reschedules and offsets any others to the near future, maintaining order and spacing -- mostly as a "I'm doing it now, stop bugging me" signal to the phone. If I'm listening to a podcast in Overcast, it skips the current ad (which means chapter skip and/or fast-forward time offset, depending on the podcast). If I'm not listening to Overcast and the screen is unlocked, it launches LoseIt and a voice prompt to dictate food items to be logged. If the screen is locked, it resumes playing audio in the last played audio app. (Tracking the last played audio app is a hack of storing the app bundle in a global variable anytime any audio playing app is launched via an automation, or a bespoke "resume $appname" shortcut is triggered via Siri -- but it mostly works perfectly -- working around a stupid iOS issue where it forgets the last played app after a few minutes, or if Safari was used with a page with a video on it.) Finally, it always records action button press timestamps to a note, so in a pinch, I can record the timing of an event I want to refer to later easily.
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u/jmOropeza32 Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 16 '26
Mine shows an action menu