How to use and customize the Action button on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max

The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max have an Action button in place of the Ring/Silent switch.  You can choose which function you want the Action button to perform when you press it. Because the button is so accessible, it’s useful for actions you perform often. It’s easy to change the action when you decide you want to use it for a different function.

How to customize the Action button

° Go to Settings  > Action Button. An image of the side of the iPhone appears with icons representing actions you can assign to the Action button.

° To choose an action, swipe to the action you want to use—its name appears below the dots.

° If there are additional options for the selected action (show by upwards facing/downwards facing arrows) appears below the action; tap it to see the list of options. For the Shortcuts and Accessibility actions, you need to tap the blue button below the action and select a specific option—otherwise the Action button does nothing.

To use the Action button

To perform the action assigned to the Action button, press and hold it.

For many functions, the Action button can be used to turn a setting on or off. For example, if the selected action is Silent Mode, you can press and hold the Action button to put iPhone in Silent mode. If you press and hold the Action button again, it turns off Silent mode.

(This how-to is based on my experiences and info on Apple’s support pages.)