Best ways to use the iPhone Action button
The Action button can do a lot more than silence your phone. Here’s how to change it, 12 settings that are actually useful day to day, and how to turn it into a calculator that’s already listening when it opens.
Updated · Vito Software, maker of Simple Voice Calculator
On this page
Which iPhones have an Action button
The Action button is the small button above the volume buttons. It replaced the Ring/Silent switch on these models:
- iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16e
- iPhone 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, 17e and iPhone Air
- iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max
The standard iPhone 15 and 15 Plus still have the switch. On older iPhones, Back Tap does a similar job (see the end of this page).
How to customize the Action button
- Open Settings › Action Button.
- Swipe through the options. Each one has a short preview. Some, like Camera, Focus and Accessibility, have a menu underneath for picking exactly which mode or feature.
- Stop on the one you want. There's no Save button. Whatever's showing when you leave is what the button does.
To use it, press and hold the button until you feel a tap. A quick press only shows what it's set to, which stops it going off in your pocket.
The exact list depends on your model and iOS version. Two options open up the rest: Controls, which can run any control from the Control Center gallery, including controls added by apps, and Shortcut, which runs any shortcut from the Shortcuts app.
12 best Action button uses
1. Flashlight
The most popular choice, and for good reason. Press and hold in the dark, without unlocking or looking.
2. Camera in your favorite mode
Pick Photo, Selfie, Video, Portrait or Portrait Selfie, so the camera opens ready for the shot you take most.
3. Voice Memo
Starts recording straight away. Good for ideas in the car, parking spots and things you'll otherwise forget.
4. A calculator
Faster than finding the icon. Choose Apple's Calculator, or a voice calculator that's already listening when it opens. Details below.
5. Translate
Speak, and hear your words in another language. Handy when you travel, without fumbling through apps at a counter.
6. Magnifier
Small print on menus, labels and receipts, with the flashlight built in. Helpful for anyone, and especially with low vision.
7. Recognize Music
Names the song that's playing, before it ends.
8. A Focus
Turn Do Not Disturb, Sleep or a work Focus on and off with one press, in a meeting or a cinema.
9. Code Scanner
A Control Center control that opens straight to scanning QR codes on menus, parking meters and tickets.
10. An accessibility feature
Zoom, VoiceOver, color filters, Background Sounds and others. Useful if you switch one on and off during the day.
11. A menu of shortcuts
The button does one thing, but that thing can be a shortcut that asks you to choose. A "Choose from Menu" shortcut fits four or five actions on one button.
12. Silent mode
The default. If you miss the old switch, leave it on Silent Mode and use Control Center for everything else.
Make it a one-press calculator
A calculator is one of the most useful things to put on the Action button, because you usually need it while your attention is on something else: a receipt, a price tag, a recipe.
Apple's Calculator
Go to Settings › Action Button, swipe to Controls, tap the control picker, and search for "Calculator". Pressing the button opens the Calculator app, ready to type.
A calculator that's already listening
Simple Voice Calculator, which we make, adds a Voice Calculate control. Choose it in the same place, and pressing the button opens the app with the microphone already on. Say the numbers, and say stop when you're done:
"24.99 plus 3 times 4.50 plus 12"
The control is free and needs iOS 18 or later. Every number appears as its own block, so if one is misheard you tap that block instead of starting over. If you switch to another app while it's listening, the running total stays in the Dynamic Island.
You can also choose Shortcut and pick the app's Voice Calculate shortcut. That opens the app too, and with Pro it starts listening the same way.
No Action button? Use Back Tap
On older iPhones, Back Tap lets you double-tap or triple-tap the back of the phone to run an action. Go to Settings › Accessibility › Touch › Back Tap, choose Double Tap or Triple Tap, and pick a system action or any shortcut. Back Tap can't run Control Center controls directly, but it can run shortcuts, including Simple Voice Calculator's Voice Calculate shortcut.
You can also put a calculator in Control Center: open Control Center, touch and hold an empty spot, tap Add a Control, and search "calculator".
Questions people ask
Which iPhones have an Action button?
iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, every iPhone 16 model including iPhone 16e, iPhone 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, 17e, iPhone Air, and iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max. The standard iPhone 15 and 15 Plus have the Ring/Silent switch instead.
How do I change what the Action button does?
Open Settings › Action Button and swipe to the option you want. Whatever is showing when you leave is what the button does.
Can the Action button do more than one thing?
Not by itself, but it can run a shortcut that uses “Choose from Menu”, which gives you a short list of actions to pick from.
Can I put a calculator on the Action button?
Yes. Choose Controls and pick Apple’s Calculator, or the Voice Calculate control from Simple Voice Calculator, which opens with the microphone already on. Controls need iOS 18 or later.
My iPhone has no Action button. What can I use instead?
Back Tap. Go to Settings › Accessibility › Touch › Back Tap and assign a double or triple tap on the back of the phone to an action or a shortcut.
Simple Voice Calculator
for iPhone.
Free on the App Store, with no ads. Works on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Rated 4.6 out of 5 by more than 200 people.
More guides
Try and learn
Use it for