Apple has added the Action Button to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. It’s a button on the side of your iPhone that allows you to quickly perform an action with a click. This action button can be set as a shortcut for the Camera app, Flashlight, or for quickly recording sound. While this can be very useful, it truly shines when you can assign the action button to execute a command from the Apple Shortcuts app, also known as Siri Shortcuts. This opens up endless possibilities, including controlling your Smart Home with a click of the iPhone 15 Pro (Max) Action Button. In this article, you’ll learn more about the possibilities for easily and quickly controlling your Smart Home with this action button.
Control your lights with the iPhone 15 Pro (Max) Action Button
A simple option for controlling your Smart Home with the Action Button is controlling your Smart Lights. Below is a step-by-step guide for creating the command and linking it to the Action Button. This guide can also be used for controlling other smart devices, such as your heating or curtains.
- Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone and click on the plus sign in the top right corner.
- Click on the blue bar labeled “Add Action.”
- In the search bar at the top, type ‘If’ and select it.
- Click on the blue input field labeled “Input” and choose “Select accessory.”
- Select the lamp you want to control by checking it and click done.
- Click on the second blue input field, right next to the name of the chosen lamp, and select ‘Is on’.
- In the bottom bar, search for ‘Control my home’ and select it. Select the blue input field labeled ‘Scenes and accessories’ and choose the lamp you want to control again. In the next screen, click on the name of this lamp and then on the symbol for the name of the chosen lamp. This sets it to be turned off. Close this screen by clicking on the cross and then click done in the top right corner.
- Drag the field you created under the ‘If’ field.
- Repeat step 7 but this time leave the lamp on, optionally adjust the desired brightness.
- Drag this field under the ‘Otherwise’ field.
- Click done. The command is now saved.
- Go to the Settings app, select Action Button, and select Command. At the bottom, you can select the command you just created.
Time for the test! Check if everything worked by pressing your action button, and if everything went well, your chosen lamp should turn on if it’s off or turn off if it’s on. If it didn’t work quite right, check the video below for a visual guide to the steps.
Advanced commands
In the example above, we created a fairly simple command. Since you can link any command to the Action Button of your iPhone, this opens up a lot of possibilities. For example, you can make the action depend on your location or a specific time. You do this by adding multiple ‘If’ statements to your command. It’s also possible to use the action button as a camera button when you’re not at home, or as a button for the living room lights during the day while the action button controls your bedroom lights in the evening. The easiest way to set this up is by setting a Focus on your iPhone based on your location. This focus can be automatically activated when you’re near your home. Additionally, you also have a sleep Focus, which automatically turns on at a certain time. By incorporating the name of the focus into your command, you can determine what happens when a specific focus is active. You can find an example of a command based on a Focus mode via this link.
Are you excited about the possibilities of controlling your Smart Home via the iPhone 15 Action Button? Check out the command in the link above. You can expand it to your liking. If you’re not sure how to do it, feel free to contact us via the contact form or WhatsApp.
