The firstApple Watch Ultraintroduced us to the Action Button, and now thissurprisingly powerful buttonhas made its way to theiPhone 15 ProandiPhone 15 Pro Max. By default, your Action Button can only be set to do one thing, such as open your camera app, silence your iPhone, or turn on your torch. However, one of the options lets you run a shortcut from theShortcuts app. This allows you to do a whole host of things, including creating your own shortcut that can detect when you’re at home or when you’re out and change what the Action button does. There’s alsoplenty more you can do with the Shortcuts appto get the most out of the Action Button as we said, but we love this trick so much we thought we’d give it its own feature. Here’s how it works.
How to create a shortcut that changes based on location
The first job is to create a shortcut. You’ll need to decide what you want the Action button to do when you’re at home, and what you want it to do when you’re away. In this example, the Action button willtoggle Silent modewhen away from home, so you can turn off the ringer in the cinema or turn it on in a crowded bar. When home, the Action button will turn off all thePhilips Hue lights.
Your shortcut is now created. When it runs, it will get your current location. If you’re less than 0.1 miles from your home address, it will turn off all of your connected Philips Hue lights. If you’re more than 0.1 miles from your home address, it will toggle Silent mode instead.
How to set your Action button to run Shortcuts
Now that your shortcut is created, you just need to set your Action button to run it.
Now whenever you press and hold the Action button, your shortcut will run. Your iPhone will determine your location and run the appropriate action.
What else can I do with the Action button?
Since the Action button can run shortcuts, you can use it to do anything that you cando with a shortcut, such as opening an app, starting a playlist, taking a screenshot, logging your weight, making a GIF, or opening your favourite subreddit.
What’s more, in this example we’ve managed to get the Action button to do two different things, depending on location. But it’s possible to add in many more, so that the Action button does something different when it’s past 9PM, for example, or if the TV is on. You can addIfactions within otherIfactions, to make your shortcut as complex as you want.
