How the iPhone 15 Pro Action Button will Probably Work
As much as I would rather have a physical mute switch toggle on my iPhone, it looks like the action button will be taking its place. bring much more functionality since it can easily give you five different functions instead of just two. Here is how I think Apple will implement the action button.
The simplest and most effective way to implement the action button is to copy the power button. The power button currently has five different functions:
Press and hold - activates Siri
Press once - turns on/off the screen
Press twice - activates Apple Pay
Press three times - activates your accessibility shortcut options
Press five times - activates the emergency SOS screen
If Apple uses this approach, we can get five more custom functions from the action button. Might be too confusing initially, but eventually I think people will get used to it. Ergonomically speaking, the action button is in the perfect spot for left handed users. You can easily thumb press the action button with your left hand, and your index finger can easily activate the longer power button. Right handers will have to perform some gymnastics to be able to press the action button with their index finger, but it’s not a comfortable hold trying it out on the 14 Pro Max and even the smaller iPhone 13.
A left hand grip makes it easy to press both the action button and power button.
It might not look like it, but the reach for the action button with your right hand is very uncomfortable and unnatural.
What would I do if I had five more extra buttons? Here is my action button setup:
Press and hold - unmute phone
Press once - mute phone
Press twice - activate camera
Press three times - activate voice recording
Press five times - call my wife
I need my phone to be on mute at certain times, and a simple press should do the trick. Even if I am not sure if my phone is on mute, I can simply press the action button once and voila! Plus, I would rather be on mute when not needed than not be on mute when needed, which is why I would rather press and hold to unmute the phone. Plus with this setup, it still allows me to mute the phone without putting my hand in my pocket.
The other 3 functions are in order of convenience and need. Quick camera access is a huge plus, and even voice recording might come in handy if you wanted to “jot down” your thoughts and ideas. Lastly, having the ability to reach my wife would be a great feature if I am in an emergency and my screen gets damaged. A lot of the times a damaged screen will hinder the ability to get help since it won’t register any touch input. Having a physical button to instantly call a loved one will definitely be handy.