iOS 18, introduced at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 on Monday, will bring more functionality to the iPhone 15 Pro’s Action button, according to a report. Apple is said to be providing quick access to additional customizable actions, including Calculator, Stopwatch, Home, Remote and more. Currently, users can assign nine preset options to the button, aside from it doing nothing. But it could soon offer more functionality, such as toggling dark mode on and off, controlling devices via the Home app or invoking Tap to Cash.
New features for the Action Button
According to a 9to5Mac reportApple introduced 14 new customizable actions for the Action button with iOS 18 Developer Beta 1. Currently, iOS 17 has options to invoke Voice Memo, Camera, Focus, Silent Mode, Torch, Translate, Magnifier, Accessibility, and Shortcuts. In addition to these options, users can also set it to do nothing.
iOS 18 will reportedly expand on these existing actions via a new ‘Controls’ option in the iPhone’s settings. The new options include:
- Calculator
- Alarm
- Stopwatch
- At home
- Time clock
- Wallet
- Dark Mode
- Scan code
- Flight mode
- Mobile data
- Personal hotspot
- At a distance
- Tap to cash
- Ping my watch
The Action button was introduced by Apple in 2023 with the launch of the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. It replaced the mute switch above the volume buttons, but is not available on the iPhone 15 models.
Control Center Updates
In addition to more functionality for the Action button, Apple also unveiled a major overhaul of Control Center. While it wasn’t shown off at WWDC, iOS 18 will give users access to camera features in third-party apps. The availability of this potential feature was confirmed through a new developer framework called “LockedCameraCapture”.
According to Apple, developers can use it to create an extension that lets people “launch the app’s camera experience and quickly capture content when the device is locked.”
iOS 18 also lets users swipe across pages to reveal more controls and toggles. A new Controls Gallery shows the full list of options that can be added to Control Center.
