iPhone 15 Pro: Why Apple made the right call requiring a ‘press and hold’ for the Action button

When Apple unveiled the iPhone 15 Pro and its new Action button, there was a detail that caught a lot of people off guard. Instead of just pressing the Action button to trigger its assigned task, you had to press and hold the button.

After three days with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, it’s now clear to me why Apple made this decision.

This story is supported by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that fully integrates five different applications on a single Apple-only platform, allowing businesses and schools to easily and automatically deploy, manage, and protect all their Apple devices. Over 38,000 organizations leverage Mosyle solutions to automate the deployment, management, and security of millions of Apple devices daily. Request a FREE account today and discover how you can put your Apple fleet on auto-pilot at a price point that is hard to believe.

This situation reminds me of the Dynamic Island. When something is in the Dynamic Island, a simple tap takes you directly to that app. If you’re listening to something in the Music app, tapping the Dynamic Island takes you to the Music app. However, long-pressing on the Dynamic Island makes it expand and shows you quick controls.

In the case of the Dynamic Island, I’m still not convinced Apple made the right call. Accidental input is not a problem for the Dynamic Island, and I’d really like to access basic information with a simple tap. In the case of the Action button, however, I agree with Apple’s decision.

I’ve found myself accidentally pressing the Action button quite a bit so far in my time with the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The problem for me is that the button feels similar enough to the volume up button, so I keep accidentally pressing the Action button instead of the volume button, and vice versa.

I assume this will get better as my hands adjust to the Action button. Still, I think this makes it clear why Apple opted for the “press and hold” instead of a simple press. The last thing you want is to accidentally press the Action button instead of the volume button and have a random action triggered.

Long-term, I do think Apple should give users another way of triggering the Action button. For instance, a double-click setting would be a nice option to have, either for adding a second action or replacing the long-press.

As for what I have the Action button set to, I’m still trying to figure this out. Right now, I’m using it as a dedicated Camera button. I’ve found this to be useful, but I think there’s more I can do to unlock the true power of having another button on my iPhone. Here are some recommendations for more ideas on how to use the Action button:

• Matthew Cassinelli: 30 Shortcuts Ideas for the Action Button on Your iPhone 15 Pro
• Stephen Robles: Action Button Shortcuts for iPhone 15 Pro

What are you using the Action button for on your iPhone 15 Pro? Give me some ideas in the comments!

Follow Chance: Threads, Twitter, Instagram, and Mastodon. 

Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed.