• Customize your action button to perform different actions based on location, focus mode, iPhone orientation, and more.

• Create a more complex shortcut that considers multiple criteria to perform different actions based on a variety of conditions.

• Use various shortcut actions such as battery status, current song, network details and weather data to further customize the action button.

The biggest problem with the action button found on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pro is that it can only be set to do one thing. However, by setting it to run a custom shortcut, you can make the action button perform different actions based on your location, Focus mode, iPhone orientation, and more.

Change action button based on orientation, location, time or focus mode

In previous articles, I looked at how to automatically change action button behavior based on a single criteria. You can learn how to change what the action button does depending on the location, based on Focus mode, based on the orientation of your iPhoneor based on the current time.

For example, in the article about iPhone orientation, I gave an example of a shortcut that you can assign to the action button. This shortcut can play or pause current media when you’re watching something on your iPhone in landscape orientation, but toggles Do Not Disturb in any other orientation. Using the shortcut, the action button can perform different actions depending on the direction you’re holding the iPhone.

It’s possible to create powerful shortcuts that consider multiple criteria to decide what to do. For example, you can add extra steps to the orientation shortcut to make it turn off the ringer when it’s face down and activate Low Battery Mode when the iPhone is upside down, giving you four different actions from the same button of action.

You can even create more complex shortcuts that can take into account a combination of orientation, location, time, and Focus mode. For example, one action might be triggered when you’re at home and your iPhone is in landscape mode, but a different action might be triggered when you’re away from home and your iPhone is in landscape mode.

Creating a shortcut using a combination of criteria means you can assign even more actions to the action button so that it always performs the most useful action for the circumstances.

Change what the action button does based on a combination of criteria

All the examples in the previous articles used a single “If” action to toggle the action button between two different options. However, you can make shortcuts even more powerful by nesting “If” statements within each other to give the action button several different actions based on time, location, orientation, and more.

For example, you might want the action button take a voice memo when you’re in Work Focus mode, turn the book page in the Books app when you’re in Sleep Focus, open Candy Crush when you’re in Do Not Disturb mode, and start a timer when you’re in any other program. Concentrate.

If your iPhone is upside down, you may prefer the action button to override Focus mode and switch to Silent mode. It’s possible to do just that by creating a custom shortcut.

Open Shortcuts and tap the “+” icon. Tap “Search Actions,” type “Get Directions,” and select “Get Directions” from the results.

Search for “If” and select the “If” action. Tap “Choose” and select “Upside Down Portrait”. Search for “Silent” and select “Set silent mode”. Drag the “Set Silent Mode” action so that it is below the “If” action.

Tap “Reverse” and select “Toggle”. This is what will happen if your iPhone is upside down. In any other orientation, the action will be determined by Focus.

Search for “Focus” and select “Get Current Focus” from the results. Search for “If” and select the “If” action. Drag the “If” action so it’s below the “Get Current Focus” action.

Tap “icon” and select “Name”, then tap the cross to close the window. Tap “Anything” and type “Work.” Search for “Registration” and select “Create Registration” from the results. Drag the action up so it’s below the second “If” action.

Search for “If” and add another “If” action to the shortcut. Drag the “If” action up so that it’s below the “Otherwise” action. Tap “icon” and select “Name”. Close the window, tap “Anything” and type “Sleep.” Look for “Turn Page” and select “Turn Page”. Drag the action up under the third “If” action.

Search for “If” and add a fourth “If” action to the shortcut. Drag the action up until it’s below the third “Other” action. Tap “icon” and select “Name”. Tap “Anything” and type “Do not disturb”.

Look for “Open App” and select the “Open App” action. Tap on “App” and select “Candy Crush Saga”. Drag the action up until it’s below the third “If” action.

Search for “Start Timer” and select “Start Timer”. Drag the action up so that it is directly below the final “Otherwise” action.

Tap the shortcut name at the top of the screen, tap “Rename” and give the shortcut a memorable name. Tap “Done” to save it.

Go to Settings > Action Button and swipe left to the “Shortcut” option. Tap the drop-down menu and select the new shortcut from “My Shortcuts”.

The action button will now record a voice note in Work Focus, turn the book page in Sleep Focus, open Candy Crush in Do Not Disturb Focus, and start a timer in any other Focus. However, if you turn your iPhone upside down, Focus mode will be ignored and the action button will toggle Silent mode on and off.

Now you can get creative and change these actions and conditions to your heart’s content when you create your own shortcut.

Other useful shortcut actions to change action button behavior

The examples in this article series focused on four useful ways to change the action button’s behavior, including changes based on your location, your current focus mode, iPhone orientation, and the current time.

However, there are plenty of other options available, allowing you to customize the action button to your liking. For example, you can use the Get Battery Status action to change the action button based on the battery level. You can use “Get Current Song” to change the action button depending on what Apple Music is playing.

You can use the Get Network Details action to change what the action button does depending on whether or not you’re connected to Wi-Fi. You can even use the Get Current Weather action to change your action button based on your input weather app. There are plenty of actions available from third-party apps too, so it’s worth exploring all the actions available to you in the Shortcuts app.

The action button can feel like a missed opportunity when it can only perform one action regardless of the circumstances. By building a custom shortcut, you can make the action button automatically do the most useful thing for your location, iPhone orientation, Focus mode, or even the time of day, making it a really useful way to interact with your iPhone- your