I finally bit the bullet and upgraded from my trusty iPhone 12 Pro to the shiny new iPhone 16 Pro last year, and wow, what a difference! The moment I started using it, I could feel the jump in technology—it’s like going from a reliable sedan to a luxury sports car. Everything from the zippy performance to the gorgeous camera setup had me swiping and tapping with childlike excitement. Not to mention that silky-smooth 120Hz display that makes scrolling through Instagram feel like butter and the Dynamic Island that somehow makes even notification bubbles feel fancy. There’s a reason this thing is the crown jewel of smartphones in 2025.
I’ve absolutely fallen in love with Camera Control. This nifty little feature has saved me countless “moment missed” situations. You know when your kid does something adorable or you spot a rainbow, and by the time you unlock your phone, open the camera, and get ready to shoot, the moment’s gone? Camera Control solves that entirely. I can literally start the camera while pulling my phone from my pocket—no looking, no fumbling, just shoot. It’s become second nature now.
But then there’s the Action button… sigh. Apple made such a big deal about this during the keynote, but honestly? It’s been sitting there on my phone, largely ignored for months. I keep thinking I should be using it for something cool, but I just can’t figure out what.
It’s not for lack of trying! I’ve gone through all of Apple’s suggested uses, but none of them really clicked for me. Need the flashlight? I’ve got the lock screen control for that. Want to Shazam a song? I can get there plenty fast through Control Center. These solutions might save me half a second, at best.
My Focus modes kick in automatically when I’m working or sleeping, so I don’t need a button for that. I barely use Visual Intelligence or Voice Memos. I’ve scrolled through Apple’s entire list of options more times than I’d like to admit, hoping something would jump out at me. Nothing has.
The irony isn’t lost on me that after all this “innovation,” I’ve ended up using the Action button as a simple mute switch—exactly what it replaced from my old iPhone 12 Pro. Talk about a technological downgrade masquerading as an upgrade!
The Dream vs. Reality
Here’s the thing—I actually have this perfect vision of what I want the Action button to do, but it’s either way too complicated or just plain impossible right now.
What I’d really love is for the button to be smart enough to know what I need based on where I am or what time it is. Imagine: I’m in my car, I press it, and boom—Google Maps pops up with my commute route. I get home, press the same button, and my smart lights turn on and the thermostat adjusts. How cool would that be? But after hours of digging through settings and online forums, I’ve come up empty-handed.
Sure, there are these super technical workarounds where you can daisy-chain multiple shortcuts together, but you practically need a computer science degree to set them up. Why can’t Apple just make this stuff intuitive? I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they might announce something at WWDC in June that makes the Action button actually, you know, useful.
Maybe I’m being too picky. My colleague John-Anthony has his button set up with some AI thing that analyzes whatever he’s looking at, and Axel uses his for instant translation when he’s traveling. Those sound neat in theory, but they just don’t fit into my everyday life. For now, my Action button remains the world’s most over-engineered mute switch, and I’m still waiting for that lightbulb moment where I finally “get” what Apple was going for here.
Searching for Purpose
I’ve occasionally wondered if Shazam might be the button’s saving grace. After all, it does have that “quick, catch it before it’s gone” quality similar to the Camera Control I love so much. But even then, I’m talking about saving maybe two seconds versus just swiping up for Control Center. Yes, identifying a song before it ends requires some urgency, but rarely with the same desperation as capturing my niece’s first steps or that perfect sunset lighting.
The truth is, I’ve made peace with my underutilized Action button. It’s like that fancy kitchen gadget you got as a housewarming gift—the one that seemed revolutionary but now sits in a drawer collecting dust. It doesn’t actively annoy me or get in my way. Most days I completely forget it exists until I accidentally press it while pulling my phone from my pocket.
I suppose not every new feature needs to be life-changing. Maybe it’s perfectly fine that some people find incredible uses for it while others, like me, just aren’t in the target audience. That said, I’m still secretly hoping for that “eureka” moment where I suddenly discover the perfect use that transforms my relationship with this little button.
So consider this an open invitation—if you’ve found a truly game-changing way to use the Action button that might convert this skeptic, I’m all ears! Until then, I’ll be over here still enjoying everything else my iPhone 16 Pro does brilliantly while occasionally giving that Action button a wistful glance, wondering what could have been.
