Apple has ditched the ringer switch and made the Action button standard across all models. While the button has a pre-defined set of functions, you can link it with a custom shortcut and accomplish way more. Here are 15 ideas to get you started.

1 Unlock Screen Rotation

If you often reach out for the screen orientation lock button in Control Center, setting up an iOS shortcut and linking it with the Action Button could help you. You can get the shortcut here. Once you add it to the Shortcuts app on your iPhone, head to Settings > Action Button > Shortcut, and then hit “Choose a Shortcut.” Then select the “Set Orientation Lock” shortcut in the Shortcuts app, and you should be good to go.

The next time you’re watching a horizontal video, but the screen doesn’t rotate, simply hit the Action Button and change the orientation without any hassle.

2 Find Songs Using Shazam

If you’re someone who loves finding new music, this one is for you. Head to Settings > Action Button > Shortcut, and select “Choose a Shortcut.” In the Shortcuts app, search for Shazam or Recognize Music. Once you find the required shortcut, assign it to the Action Button, and that’s it.

Once you have this iOS shortcut in place, you should be able to find out the name of a song by pressing the Action Button without pressing the Shazam button in the Control Center.

3 Take Screenshots and Save to Camera Roll

Don’t you hate it when you have to take a lot of screenshots, and each time you click one, iOS wastes some time by showing its thumbnail on the screen? Well, you can program the Action Button to take a screenshot and save it directly to your iPhone’s Camera Roll.

Use this shortcut that takes a screenshot and saves it directly to the photo gallery. By default, iOS sets the Photo Album as Recents, but you can also change it by editing the shortcut in the Shortcuts app. Simply tap “Recents” and select the required destination. Now, assign the Save to Photo shortcut to the Action Button.

4 Scan a Document

This one is useful for students or professionals who might have to scan documents on a regular basis. Create a shortcut that invokes the Scan feature found in the Files app and link it to the Action Button. Then, capture the images of the documents you need to convert to a PDF and save them on your iPhone.

5 Dictate a Quick Note to Your iPhone

To dictate a quick note to your iPhone, you first have to create a custom shortcut and then link it with the Action Button. So, use the Voice Note shortcut with the actions “Dictate Text” and “Create Note” in the same order. Then tap on “Body” to replace it with “Dictated Text” and hit Done at the top right.

After creating the shortcut, simply go to the Action Button settings page and link it with the shortcut. From now on, you can dictate random ideas, grocery lists, guest lists, or literally anything else that crosses your mind.

6 Open an App

This is a pretty straightforward yet one of the most useful Action Button shortcuts. Based on your preference, you can link the Action Button to the Open App shortcut and use it to open an app at the press of the button. It could be Camera, Snapchat, or Uber; you can link any app and open it on the go (without unlocking your iPhone).

7 Call or Text Someone

For personal safety you can set the Action Button to immediately call a trusted contact. Simply create a shortcut that initiates a call, enter the contact you wish to connect to, and link the shortcut to the Action Button. Similarly, you can set a text or a FaceTime shortcut.

8 Activate Low Power Mode

In the Shortcuts app, create a new shortcut with the action “Set Low Power Mode.” Now, all you have to do is map it to the Action Button. That’s it. This way, you can enable Low Power Mode in less than a second.

9 Control Smart Home Devices

If you have a smart home device connected to the Apple Home app, you can set an Action Button shortcut that toggles its states between on and off. All you have to do is create a Toggle Accessory State shortcut and then map it to the Action Button.

10 Add a New Event to Calendar

Add a New Calendar Event shortcut that uses the “Add New Event” action. Now, select all three variables to “Ask Each Time,” and you’re done. Running this shortcut will let you add a new event, along with its starting/ending time, to the Calendar app. Map it to the Action Button to start setting event reminders in seconds.

You can even set the Action Button to instantly run a timer. Create a new shortcut and add the “Start a Timer” action, then set the “Duration” variable to “Ask Each Time.” Then, map it to the Action Button. Each time you press the Action Button, you’ll be able to start the timer by entering the duration you like.

Open the Shortcuts app and select the “Directions Home” in Gallery at the bottom right corner. Hit “Set up Shortcut” and enter all the required details, such as your address, city, and the preferred navigation app (Apple Maps or Google Maps). Now, link the shortcut to the Action Button through the steps mentioned above.

Once done, no matter where you are, just press the Action Button, and your iPhone will instantly show the way back home through the set navigation app.

13 Save the Parking Location of Your Car

For this, we’ll create a Parking Location shortcut that fetches your current location and saves it in the Notes app. Simple, right?

Create a new shortcut and add the following actions: “Get current location” and “Create note.” Now, in the second action, tap on Body and select “Current Location” from the options that appear on the keyboard, and you’re done. Before you exit the app, run the shortcut once, as it will ask permission to access your current location. Once done, map the Action Button to the shortcut.

14 Voice Chat With ChatGPT

If you’re in the middle of an assignment, a project, or research, setting the Action Button to initiate a voice chat with ChatGPT could be of tremendous help. First, download the official ChatGPT app from the App Store, then map the “Start voice conversation with ChatGPT” shortcut to the Action Button. When you use the shortcut for the first time, ChatGPT will ask permission to access your iPhone’s microphone and you can chat away.

15 Conditional Shortcut for Performing Two Different Tasks

While there are hundreds of customized shortcuts out there, there’s this particular one that caught my eye on X (formerly known as Twitter). User Jordan Zeleny has created a shortcut that lets your iPhone differentiate a single and a double press on the Action Button and assigns different tasks to it.

Once you download the shortcut, add it to your Shortcuts library. By default, it opens the photo camera with one press and the video camera with two presses of the Action Button. You can change what the shortcut does as well. Simply replace the “Video in Camera” and “Photo in Camera” actions with the ones you want, and that should do the trick.

The Action button isn’t the only thing that’s new on the iPhone 16. Both models now get a Camera Control button too. If you’re having trouble deciding between them, check out our iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro face-off.